DUBAI: Police arrested members of a Eurasian gang that kidnapped a 24-year-old Russian woman and demanded a ransom of 150,000 dirhams for her release, officials said yesterday.
It took police less than 24 hours to arrest the gang and free the woman. The three members of the gang, including one woman, were from Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan.
Col. Khalil Al-Mansoori said the incident occurred on Feb. 7. The victim had recently arrived in the UAE and was living with her older sister, who works in trading. Al-Mansoori said the sister had gone to work leaving the woman in her apartment in Dubai’s Al-Nahda area.
He added that the Dubai resident noticed something was wrong when she found her sister’s mobile phone switched off. It was only later in the evening when she returned home that she realized her sister was missing.
An hour after the woman arrived home she received a phone call from her kidnapped sister’s phone. A man on the line told her that her sister had been kidnapped and ordered her to pay 150,000 dirhams to a man in a European country if she wanted to see her again.
The woman reported the incident at Al-Qusais police station. Investigators from the Criminal Intelligence Department managed to identify the gang and the woman was asked to contact the them and say she wanted to pay the money in person.
The gang agreed to meet the woman the following morning at a location in neighboring Ajman. Police saw a black Mazda approaching the meeting point at the appointed time and moved in to arrest the gang members.
The victim who was in the back seat of the car was unharmed. She told police that the three gang members came to the apartment and forced her to accompany them.
