The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A businessman and his accomplices summoned a merchant for a phone deal and mugged him inside a building’s stairway. They have been sued. The Asian businessman, 45, with the help of a compatriot dyer, 37, unemployed man, 45, and fugitive accomplices lured and mugged the Asian victim at around 1:30pm on Mar.3, Naif Police Station records read.    

They convinced him they were whole sellers who had phones they wanted to sell to him at a price less than their market value. They lured him inside the building with the prospect of taking him to their office upstairs.

They dragged him from the stairway until inside the room. They confined him there while threatening to kill him unless he surrendered all cash in his possession. They snatched Dhs74, 000 from his bag and fled.

During court questioning the trio refuted the kidnap, theft and issuing death threats. They sought to be acquitted. Prosecutors demand the Dubai Criminal Court to hand them the toughest penalty. Case continues on Jun.11.

Records showed that the victim recognised the dyer and the unemployed man during an identity parade. Investigations led to the businessman’s arrest and recovery of Dhs38, 750 he had stashed under his bed in his apartment.

During police investigations, the victim narrated that he was standing outside a hotel in Naif area at around 1:30pm when a man showed up, presented several phones to him and asked him whether he would like to buy them.

They were iPhones and Samsung smartphones at prices of around Dhs800 each. The victim liked them. “The man asked me to follow him to his employer’s office while claiming that I would bargain and get phones at lower prices.

“I followed him until inside a building in Sabkha that allegedly housed the office. We entered the stairway on our way to the mezzanine floor. I was astonished to see two people behind me and another in front of me.

“They suddenly seized my legs, subdued me and forced me inside a room. There were five other men in the room and three women. They shut the door and grabbed my bag. They removed the Dhs74, 000 from it.”

He complained that they teamed up to slap and punch him on various parts of his body. They confined him to the room for around one hour then let him out with threats to kill him in case he told anyone about what happened.