Dubai:
Two men from Pakistan were sentenced to three years in prison in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today for allegedly locking up and assaulting an Indian security guard before stealing electrical cables worth 264,500 dirhams (around $72,000).
The Dubai Criminal Court in July convicted the two Pakistani nationals, identified by their names' initials - AA, 37, and AM, 27 - for assault, locking up a man against his will and robbery, The National reported.
The Indian security guard, identified by his initials NA, said that on June 18 this year when he was alone at the Emirates Electromechanics company in Jebel Ali, Dubai, six masked men attacked him.
The guard said they gagged him after asking him about the location of the electric cables. "When I said I didn't know, one of the men slapped me and another waved a knife at my face," the guard was quoted as saying.
He was dragged to a small room in the company's office and tied up and had his eyes covered. "They left one person to guard me and the rest left," said the guard.
The guard reported the incident to police and shortly after that the accused were arrested.
The police officer who testified AA said that the gang sold the stolen cables to a Bangladeshi man in Sharjah.
"He told me his share in the whole thing was 100 dirhams," the policeman said.
The two convicts will be deported after they complete their jail terms.