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Inmate killed in Dubai jail brawl

A 42-year-old national prisoner was stabbed to death and 16 others suffered injuries in bloody clashes between two groups of inmates in the Dubai Central Jail on August 20, Khaleej Times has learnt.

The injured prisoners have been hospitalised and they will be referred to the Dubai Public Prosecution on the charges of physical assault leading to the death of the national, identified as Ayoub. Ayoub was serving a life term for murder and had previous records of other serious crimes like drug abuse.

The police received information about the brawl in the jail at 6pm. On reaching the scene, the police found the body of Ayoub in a pool of blood in the jail yard.

The investigation revealed that an Indian prisoner, who went to see a visitor around 5pm, opened the door to return to his ward. As he opened the door, a large number of inmates availed the opportunity and moved from their ward to another ward. This led to a brawl between a Russian group and a GCC group due to some previous dispute.

A Russian inmate, identified only as G, asked a member of the GCC group for a separate fight. As they started fighting, other inmates watched as mute spectators. During the fight, Ayoub intervened in support of the Russian and stabbed two GCC inmates, identified as R and M, who are brothers, bringing an end to the fight.

R is serving a life term for a murder in 2002 and his brother is serving a 15-year jail sentence for different crimes, including drug cases.

After a few minutes, both the groups returned in large numbers. R and his Emirati friend Rashid and their supporters allegedly beat up and stabbed Ayoub and he fell.

R and Rashid then allegedly cut the victim’s ears while the others smashed his face brutally with a wooden object. The jail officials intervened soon after and managed to pull away Ayoub but he was bleeding profusely. He died before the ambulance arrived.

The police rushed the 16 injured inmates to the hospital.

A top officer said legal action would be taken against all those were involved in the brawl. Further investigations are on.

news@khaleejtimes.com