DUBAI // A gang of 17 men stole electric cables worth Dh267,000 from a worksite after assaulting and tying up two security guards, the Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday.
The men, all Pakistanis, are charged with armed robbery, assaulting the guards, tying them up and blindfolding them on August 16 last year at a Dubai Electricity and Water Authority site in Al Qusais.
Security guard Z D, 30, Pakistani, told the court he was making his rounds at the site when he noticed a group of men.
“It was past midnight when I saw them and as they spotted me and my colleague, they came running to attack us so we fled to the security room. They followed us and smashed the window then jumped inside,” said Z D.
He added the gang ripped off his shirt and assaulted him and his colleague with iron bars then tied them up and blind folded them.
“We remained inside the room and heard the sounds of them moving items,” said the guard.
His colleague S S, 21, Indian, said the attackers took their phones. “We remained in the room for nearly three hours after which we no longer heard the noises of things being moved or broken,” said S S.
He added that he and Z D managed to free themselves and walked to the street and to get help.
A 39-year-old policeman testified that they were tipped off about a man who was involved in the robbery. “We arrested him and during investigations he told us about more men who were involved,” said the officer.
Six of the defendants did not show up in court to enter a plea while the rest denied the charges.
The next hearing was scheduled for September 10.
salamir@thenational.ae
