Gang of four jailed for setting fire to vehicles in Jebel Ali

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

Dubai Appellate Court upheld the Court of First Instance’s verdict to jail a gang of four Asians for six months on charges of setting fire to two vehicles owned by other Africans following a dispute over the illegal trade of alcoholic beverages.

All four will also be deportation after serving their sentences, the Court of First Instance had ruled.

The case dates back to March 2023 when an African filed a report complaining that a fire was set to his vehicle and another bus in a sandy area in Jebel Ali Industrial Area in Dubai.

In his report he said that he saw a number of Asians fleeing the scene, so he and other passersby tried to put out the fire, but a team from Dubai Civil Defence arrived and controlled it.

A police officer reported during the interrogations that an investigation team identified the suspects and arrested them.

He added that one of them confessed that he worked with the other suspects in trafficking in alcohol and that he set fire to two vehicles due to a dispute over the area where to sell alcohol.

The suspects, who were Asians, admitted that they had a dispute with Africans over the area where to sell alcohol in the side streets of Jebel Ali Industrial Area, where they worked without a permit from the relevant authorities.

The suspect added that their boss ordered him to buy diesel and call others to set fire to a vehicle and a bus belonging to the Africans, while they were parked in the sandy area.