Photo used for illustrative purpose.

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

An African duo were arrested and referred to Dubai criminal court on robbery charges after luring a man through fake massage service, and robbing him of over Dhs32,000.

The incident occurred during March this year, when the 28-year-old Asian victim showed up at the police station to report about an African gang who lured and attacked him at an apartment in Dubai.

The victim stated that he had seen an advertisement for a massage centre on Facebook, and decided to contact the alleged place to book an appointment. He chatted with a woman through WhatsApp to inquire about the service details, and received pictures of four different women, who will provide the services for him.

“I contacted a woman who pretended to be of a Brazilian national, and had offered a sexual relation in return for Dhs300,” the victim said.  However, they agreed on a date and the victim headed to the given location and was told to directly enter the apartment without having to ring any bells.

As soon as the victim entered the flat, he was surprised to find a gang of 10 women and 3 men who immediately attacked and dragged him to the nearest room. He was searched and robbed of Dhs100 and car keys that were inside his pocket. Then he was beaten to show them the location of his vehicle.

One of the male defendants took the car keys and headed out to clean it of all belongings. He managed to find $150, €50, and Dhs300 inside the vehicle. The defendant had also found a wallet with around 8 bank cards, and decided to inform the rest of the gang members in order to pressure the victim to give up its passcode.

The defendant withdrew over Dhs32,000 before returning to the gang with the stolen money. After completing their robbery plan, the gang decided to undress the poor victim and photograph him while being naked so he doesn’t report the incident to police.

He was finally set free and told to head directly to his vehicle while the gang members scattered across the area to flee the scene.

After the police were alerted about the robbery, investigations were carried out to locate the defendants and arrest them one by one.

The two defendants were the first to be identified and apprehended, while the hunt is still on for the other runaway accomplices.