Gang posed as Dubai Police and used tear gas to steal from flat, court hears

The men robbed a flat in Al Rafaa but were arrested within a week, prosecutors told

Four men posed as policemen to break into a flat and set off tear gar canisters before stealing from the tenants and running away, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday.

Three Pakistani men and an Indian citizen are accused of raiding a flat in Al Rafaa at around 11pm on July 1.

“They knocked on the door and the moment I opened they burst in then used the teargas” said an Indian man, who lived in the flat.

He told prosecutors the masked men punched him in the chest and restrained him before searching the rooms for items to steal.

“They stole two mobile phones and fled with a safe containing passports and identification cards belonging to me and my flatmates,” he said.

One of his roommates returned to the flat 30 minutes after the men left and called police.

Two of the men were identified using CCTV footage from a nearby building.

Police tracked them down to a flat in Sharjah and arrested them within five days of the raid.

The two others were arrested a week later.

“During police questioning, the defendants admitted planning the theft after hearing one of its tenants had been making money by gambling,” said a police officer.

In court on Monday, the accused, aged between 35 and 53, denied a burglary charge.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 17.