WhatsApp saves man from kidnappers in Dubai

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

An Asian, in collaboration with two others kidnapped an Asian and kept him inside an apartment in Dubai after assaulting him and threatening to kill him.

The victim, however, sent the co-ordinates of where he was kept to a friend of his via WhatsApp and the defendants were arrested and referred to the public prosecution.

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced the defendants to six months in jail to be followed by deportation.

The case dated back to last July when an Asian filed a complaint in which he stated that his friend had been kidnapped and threatened by a man and two others. According to the complainant, he received a call from his friend on the day of the incident in which he requested Dhs5,000 to pay off a debt.

The complainant said he received a WhatsApp message from his friend in which he asked for his help as three people were keeping him and threatening to kill him.

The victim also attached the co-ordinates of the location of the house where he was kept in Al Khail Gate in Dubai. The complainant informed the police accordingly.

The victim stated in the interrogations that he was a friend of the defendant and that the latter once invited him to dinner in a restaurant, where he was accompanied by two others.

During the dinner, the defendant asked the victim to return Dhs10,000 to him and requested him to talk to his family in his home country to send the amount. The victim’s father, however, refused to send the money.

At this point, the defendant sought the help of the two others to kidnap the victim and keep him inside his apartment where he was assaulted.

The defendants asked him to contact another man and ask for an amount of money but he managed to call his friend and send a distress message to him in which the co-ordinates of the location were attached.

The defendant confessed to having kidnapped the victim with the help of two others over a financial dispute between them.