Three held in Dh3.5m jewellery heist in Naif

Dubai, December 16: The Dubai Police have achieved a breakthrough in the Dh3.5-million jewellery heist that took place in the Naif area of Deira in July with the arrest of three Kosovar suspects.

The trio was arrested when they returned to Dubai to take away the booty they had left buried in a graveyard near Baniyas Square. The police recovered the jewellery.

The robbery happened on July 20 night.

Colonel Ahmed Al Marri, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, said the police team, including forensic experts, found that the shop owner had kept the jewellery in the shelves instead of the safe locker at night. The thieves used a ladder kept in the dark behind the building to climb on to the roof and enter the shop through a bathroom window. They escaped with all gold ornaments in the shelves. The police found out that some tall and well-built men were seen around the shop by witnesses and three of them were seen in the CCTV footage. The police later learnt that three of them from Kosovo had left the country nearly eight hours after the heist. They had criminal records.

The records at entry and exit points showed that the three had not carried the jewellery when they left the country. The police alerted all entry points in the country and waited for them to return.

On November 11, two of the suspects, identified as A.H. and M.H., reentered the country. The police put them under surveillance. On November 30, the police noticed the third suspect leaving a hotel. When he reached the graveyard near Baniyas Square, he went inside and came back after a few minutes carrying a bag. He returned to the hotel where he was arrested from the lobby. The other two were arrested later.

The three have been referred to the public prosecution and the police are chasing a fourth suspect who has travelled to Europe.

Brigadier Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, said the shop owner had committed a mistake by leaving the jewels in the shelves though he had a safe locker. Besides, the alarm system in the shop was not working at the time.

He called on the shop owners to be careful and ensure that they have kept the jewels in the safe lockers.