DUBAI: Dubai police have arrested members of a Chinese gang who had kidnapped a wealthy businessman and were demanding a ransom of 100 million dirhams.
The kidnapping, which took place on Nov. 16, was the first of its kind in the UAE. The family of the 24-year-old businessman owns a wholesale business in the Dragon Mart Mall in Dubai. The victim, whose name was not released by the police, is heir to the family’s business, which includes hardware factories in China. He lives in the International City area, which is a walking distance from the Dragon Mart, Dubai’s China town.
Giving details of the incident, the director of the Dubai Police Criminal Intelligence Department, said the businessman was kidnapped near his home. According to Col. Khalil Al-Mansouri, the kidnappers seized the victim while he was entering his apartment building. They punched him and used a stun gun to immobilize him, he said. An hour later they called his fiancée demanding ransom and threatened to kill him if she did not pay. The woman immediately phoned the Rashidiya police.
“She informed us that a man speaking Chinese had called her and demanded a ransom for the businessman. The man told her to prepare the amount and that he would call her later to inform her where she should deliver the money,” said Col. Al-Mansouri.
A task force was formed by the CID to track down the kidnappers. After 18 hours, the force managed to identify the gang and traced their whereabouts to apartments in Ajman and Fujairah, two neighboring emirates. “Our investigations revealed that the gang was composed of nine members, including a woman. They had rented a two-bedroom flat in the Nuamiya area in Ajman and another in Fujairah,” he said.
Al-Mansouri pointed out that the criminals rarely left the victim alone. They also guarded the areas surrounding the apartment.
After two days the police decided to storm both flats simultaneously and arrest the gang members without posing any threat to the young man’s life. Nearly 100 police personnel took part in the operation, said Col. Al-Mansouri, adding that the gang members put up a fierce resistance and used knives to fight with the police.
They found the victim blindfolded tied to a bed. “When they called his family to ask for ransom, the gang would cause him to scream so that his family would act quickly,” he said. The gang members have all been charged with kidnapping, possession of illegal weapons and assaulting police officials.
