DUBAI // A worker called 999 and demanded 20,000 Pakistani rupees or else he would burn down a company’s accommodation in Jebel Ali, prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Pakistani denied a charge of issuing threats over the Dh700 demand but confessed to another of consuming alcohol without a licence.
It is alleged that the worker made the call to Dubai Police’s operations room on February 28.
“He called and asked that we pay him the money or he would burn down the accommodation, after which we arrested him,” testified a 23-year-old policeman, who said the defendant was aware of what was going on and was acting normally at the time of his arrest.
The officer said that, when arrested, they looked at his phone and found that the call was visible in its history. “He confessed and told us that his wife suffered a heart attack and he needed the money to pay the hospital bill,” said the policeman.
The worker awaits a verdict on May 11.
salamir@thenational.ae