Dubai: Six members of a gang posing as CID officers looted Dh650,000 from a general trading company’s office in a daylight robbery in Dubai, victims and a lawyer said on Wednesday.
The incident took place at BHG General Trading LLC near Baniyas Square Metro Station in Naif on June 2, a partner of the company told Gulf News.
“I was away in India and my partner was not yet in the office when it happened,” Sabik. K.K said on Wednesday.
Staff members said the incident happened shortly after an employee who handles cash reached the office around noon on that day.
“It looks like they were waiting for my arrival as they rang the office bell within minutes after I reached the office and kept the money in the locker,” said Aslam T.P, who is also a cousin of Sabik.
The cousins believe the gang might have planned to rob a bigger amount which Aslam was supposed to collect from a client that morning. “He was supposed to get a payment of Dh2.5million,” said Sabik. Before collecting Dh2.5 million, Aslam went to the office to keep Dh650,000 in the locker as advised by the other partner, Shabeer.
Aslam was accompanied by a friend, who is on a visit visa. Apart from the duo, two other staffers, including an accountant, were in the office when four members of the gang entered the office carrying a wireless radio. Two others waited outside to keep a watch.
“There were two guys wearing kandoura. One was in formal clothes and another man in jeans and T-shirt. All of them wore sunglasses,” said Rishad. K.
He said the gang members who looked like Emiratis were talking on the wireless radio, giving an impression that there were more officers waiting outside.
“They said they came from Abu Dhabi CID and were shouting in Arabic and we got terrified. We are all new to Dubai and we are just completing a year here. We never expected this could be thieves,” said Rishad.
He said the CID impostors knew the names of the staff, partners and his pet name Raheem, giving a strong reason for them to believe they were real cops. “They asked me to turn off the CCTV camera. After I did that, one of them wore gloves and removed the camera and took it with them. They also took our mobile phones.”
The staff said the gang members made the staff open the shelves and files for them. “They asked Aslam to open the locker and give the full amount in that. They took it in a small cover.”
The gangsters then told the staff that they were after the second partner as they have received a complaint that he has links with Daesh, hearing which the staff was even more stunned.
“They told us not to move out and not to contact anybody. They said they will go straight to Shabeer’s place and nab him and will come back to the office.”
By then Shabeer had called the security guard since nobody was answering calls in office. However, the gang apparently showed Shabeer’s photo to the security guard and said they were heading to arrest him, the staff said. “We called Shabeer using Aslam’s friend’s phone which was kept for charging. They had not seen that phone. We called the police after he came to the office,” said Rishad.
The car number noted down by the security guard and CCTV footage from the building helped the police crack the case, said the company’s legal adviser advocate Hashik T.K. The footage showed that the gang members had visited the building just days before the robbery..
“All six people in the gang have been arrested by the Dubai Police. The case is now with the Dubai Public Prosecution,” he said. The staff members, who were also taken into custody for questioning, were released after interrogation.
Dubai Police had previously cautioned residents to take these precautions to avoid being cheated by fake policemen.
“The ID card of Dubai Police contains the logo of the Dubai Government and Dubai Police, in addition to the personal data of the holder of the ID card — in both Arabic and English. The photograph of the person is also on the card,” a senior official was quoted as saying in a previous report.
