Lawyer refutes kidnap victim’s complaint

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A lawyer on Sunday cast doubt on the complaint of a manager claiming to have been kidnaped in Dubai for ransom.

An Arab employee, 39, was referred to the Dubai Criminal Court on suspicion that he and fugitive accomplices kidnapped the Asian manager of a Naif area Abaya shop behind Al Muqqabat Police Station at 10pm on Mar.20.

The defendant allegedly posed as a CID detective, accused the manager of pimping, drug trafficking and hawking visas. He searched his car and snatched Dhs13, 000 along with several passports of Bangladeshi nationals.

They forced him inside their car and drove around town while demanding Dhs50, 000. They allegedly pulled over outside the Dubai Police headquarters. They allegedly took him to a parking lot outside Al Aweer Central jail.

His relatives and friends arranged Dhs27, 000 as a down payment to buy his freedom. The defendant received it at a prominent hotel in Al Muteena. Prosecutors demanded the toughest punishment. The defendant denied.

The defendant’s lawyer Saeed Al Ghailani refuted the victim’s complaint and said suspicion hovered around the victim. He concocted the case to evade accountability, having been dealing in illicit visa sales. “Had they wanted to kidnap him they would have lured him to a remote area.

“He claimed they kidnapped him behind the police station. On the way he received a call that his car was left in a wrong parking. They drove back to take it with them to police headquarters’ parking. From there, they took him to the central jail’s parking? There is no surveillance evidence to prove such an incident happened at the maximum security places he mentioned.

“During interrogations he said they went to a fuel station and he spotted a patrol but feared to shout for help. They took him to a shop and gave him a sandwich. Imagine someone kidnapped, sitting to enjoy a sandwich and failing to scream or wreak havoc to attract anyone’s attention!

“He claimed they kept slapping him. However, there is no report to prove he suffered any injury or bruise. The truth was that he was found with 10 passports and suspicious money. He failed to explain why he had the passports. He wanted to evade being charged with hawking visas. That’s why he later waived his complaint. The waiver is attached to the case files.” The ruling will be on Jun.23.