Highway robbery attempt foiled by the RAK police

RAS AL KHAIMAH — The law-enforcement authorities yesterday foiled a Hollywood-style operation planned by a group of people to steal jewellery worth more than Dh2 million.

By Sadiq A. Salam

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Published: Sun 17 Sep 2006, 9:47 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 8:25 PM

The story dates back a few days when the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the RAK Police Department (RPD) got a tip-off indicating that a group of Asians were planning to attack a jewellery delivery car while it was on its way from another emirate to RAK. “We had been informed that the group was planning to steal the jewellery from the car, while it was on its way to the emirate through the Emirates Highway,” Colonel Abdullah Munachas, Director of CID, said.

“As soon as we got the tip-off, we initiated wide-scale investigations to ascertain them,” he said.

Interestingly, the police investigations indicated that the car’s driver was also involved in the plan. “The group planned their crime in cooperation with the driver of the car carrying jewels,” he said.

It took the CID personnel several hours to monitor the Emirates Highway after being furnished with all the distinctive features of the targeted car like brand, model and colour.

“As soon as the vehicle crossed the emirate’s borders with Umm Al Qawain, another car approached it and both cars stopped,” he said.

The commuters of both cars got down and opened the rear bonnet of the targeted car.

“They started unloading the gold when our personnel raided them,” he said. On being questioned, “the suspects claimed that they were CID personnel from another emirate, so as to get away with their crime,” he said. The precious consignment included gold necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. “The suspects will be referred to the judicial authorities as soon as all investigations were completed,” he said.

The incident raises fears that the newly built Emirates Highway extension — which links the RAK emirate to the rest of the country — lacks basic amenities like a police station or rest areas. The area between Ajman and RAK emirates is literally a deserted one. A large number of motorists complain that many stretches of the road is very dark at night because they lack street lights.


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