Illegal immigrants arrested for kidnapping of Arab man over Dh40,000 scam

Two illegal immigrants who kidnapped, beat and threatened to kill an Arab man to use him as an intermediary to recoup Dh40,000 they had lost in a scam have been arrested.

YR, 30, was forced into a car in front of a café in Abu Dhabi emirate, according to his friend, who reported the abduction to police. He said he remained in touch with YR via text messages.

The kidnappers, both Arab nationals, alleged that YR knew individuals who defrauded them out of Dh40,000 in a scam scrap-metal business.

Col Dr Rashid Mohammed Bourshid, head of the criminal investigations department, said the text messages that YR was sending showed that his kidnappers had set a one-hour deadline to kill him if the money was not returned and deposited in a bank account.

Investigators found out that the kidnappers were AA, 25, and 27-year-old AZ. Besides death threats and beating, the pair have also seized YR's money and personal belongings, police said.

"A well-crafted plan led police to free the kidnapped man and arrest the two suspects in another emirate, in collaboration with the local police there," Col Bourshid said, noting that crimes of this kind are "very rare" in the UAE.

A search is still ongoing for a third suspect.

Details of the alleged scam deal or the nature of YR's ties to the alleged scammers were not made clear.