Gang robs Dh 666,770 from money exchange office vehicle in Dubai

Dubai - The incident took place on December 16 last year and was reported at Bur Dubai police station.

A gang of seven has been charged at the Dubai Court of First Instance with robbing - using weapons - over Dh 666,770 from a money exchange office vehicle.
The gang members, all Pakistanis, targeted the vehicle right after it moved from outside the office in Al Quoz. They stole amounts of various currencies.
Public prosecution records show how the defendants, aged between 27 and 41, blocked the office's vehicle in two cars. With their faced covered, they frightened the three staff with sticks and metal rods with which they smashed the windows of the targeted vehicle.
One of the accused threatened an employee with a knife he pressed against his neck and snatched the money briefcase from him.
They are accused of street robbery with the use of weapon, carrying a weapon and issuing threats to use it and damage of private property.
A seventh man, also Pakistani, is charged with aiding and abetting by telling the thieves about the description of the vehicle in which the money would be transported and the time it would leave the place. The gangsters were also helped by other accomplices.
The incident took place on December 16 last year and was reported at Bur Dubai police station.
During the public prosecution investigation, one of the staff, a 50-year-old Indian driver, recounted how he and two colleagues collected the money briefcase from the office at 9.35pm. "Shortly after we moved in our vehicle, a pick-up truck blocked our way and another car stopped behind us. Several masked men then stepped off. They smashed the glass windows of our vehicle with sticks and metal rods. I felt terrified and one of them forced me into giving him the money after threatening me with a knife. They did not say a word and the whole thing lasted one or two minutes."
He added that he thought they were being watched by the thieves.
A police corporal said that one of the cars used in the robbery had been reported stolen earlier. "Sharjah Police arrested the main accused as he was about to flee the UAE. Some of the cash was recovered from him."
The public prosecution is seeking the strictest legal penalty against the defendants, who included three fugitives.
The trial will continue on April 22.
mary@khaleejtimes.com