Two men travelled from Pakistan to kill a man by hitting him with a hammer and stabbing him to exact revenge on him, Dubai Criminal Court was told.
On December 7, an Indian engineer was driving in Al Nahda 2 and almost hit two of the defendants who were running away from something.
"I was driving when two men suddenly ran in front of my car, and I had to hit the brakes, one of them was bleeding heavily from the arm. When I looked back to check if there was anyone behind them, I saw the dead body," said the 34-year-old engineer.
He called police and waited for them to arrive to provide them with a description of the two men who had run away.
Police tracked down the two men and arrested them at Dubai International Airport as they attempted to flee the country.
"We referred the injured one — a Pakistani aged 46 — to Rashid hospital while the second was taken into custody," said the Emirati officer, 31.
He said the 31-year-old second defendant, also Pakistani, admitted to killing the victim.
"He told us that the two of them were hired by their countryman, the 32-year-old third defendant while they were in Pakistan to fly to Dubai and kill the victim because the deceased had killed his brother in 2005," said the officer.
The accused said they were promised Dh15,000 each, of which Dh5,000 was paid to them upfront. They were told they would receive the rest of the money when they returned to Pakistan.
Investigations revealed that the two men entered the country, along with the man who hired them, on December 5. They were given the address of their target by a countryman, 34, who is being charged of aiding and abetting.
The two bought a hammer and knives and watched the deceased for a day before attacking him in his building's car park as he was getting out of his car.
"The two carried out the crime while the mastermind behind the crime waited in a rented car. During the assault, one of them stabbed his accomplice by mistake, that's why he was bleeding," said the policeman.
Police arrested the man who hired the hitmen two weeks later when he returned to Dubai. He and the two hitmen were charged with premeditated murder. In court on Sunday, they denied the charge.
The next hearing is set for June 10.
