DUBAI // Two men lost their appeal against six months in jail for bringing an Etisalat transmission booster station to a halt after they stole its fuel.
In September, Dubai Criminal Court convicted Pakistanis M K, 26, and TM, 29, of theft and intentionally damaging an Etisalat communication service designed for mobile phones after the fuel theft stopped the station’s transmission. The pair were also convicted of causing damaged to the fuel tank after breaking its lock.
The men stole 590 litres of diesel worth nearly Dh2,000 from the station after breaking the lock on its fuel tank on February 10 last year.
The two denied all charges in the criminal and appeal courts.
Emirati J M, 37, an Etisalat employee, said that at 10.30pm on the day of the incident a report was received that transmission at the Sheikh Zayed Road station, in the direction of Abu Dhabi, had stopped.
“Our technicians moved to the location immediately and saw the lock to the fuel tank broken, then discovered that all the fuel was missing,” said J M.
A police report was lodged and for four months after the incident, other reports of similar thefts were received.
“We tracked down the two defendants and made sure through investigations that they were involved in the thefts,” said Emirati policeman D A, 30. “We arrested them on June 29 the same year.”
He and three other policemen testified that both defendants confessed to them willingly that they had robbed the Etisalat station, despite their pleas to the contrary in court.
The pair will be deported after completing their jail terms.
salamir@thenational.ae
