The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a gang of four Asians to six months in jail to be followed by deportation for setting fire to two vehicles owned by Africans following a dispute over bootlegging.

The case dated back to March last year when an African reported to the police that a fire erupted in his vehicle and a bus in a sandy yard in Jebel Ali Industrial Area. He stated that he was surprised by his vehicle catching fire and that he saw a number of Asians running away.

He and a number of people who happened to be there tried to put out the fire at the scene of the accident until a Dubai Civil Defence team arrived and brought the fire under control, he said.

A policeman stated in the interrogations that a team of detectives managed to identify and arrest the defendants. One of them admitted that he and the other defendants were engaged in bootlegging and that they set fire to the two vehicles due to a dispute over the location of activity.

Another defendant admitted that he was engaged in bootlegging in Jebel Ali Industrial Area and that a dispute erupted between his Asian partners and an African group over the location of activity.

The defendant added that his boss ordered him to buy gasoline and then ordered the others to set fire to a vehicle and a bus belonging to the African group that were parked in a sandy yard.