DUBAI // A gang loading stolen cables from a du signal station fled leaving even their vehicle when they were spotted by a security guard, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said that on April 18 last year the 22-year-old Pakistani defendant and a number of unidentified men stopped their van near the du station in Jebel Ali at about 4pm and broke the lock to enter.
The men started cutting cables and loading them into their van when a Nepalese security guard who was patrolling the area spotted them.
“They left everything behind, even the vehicle, and ran away,” said the guard, 35. He called police.
The vehicle had a stolen plate number but DNA on a cigarette butt found inside the van led to the identity of the Pakistani defendant, who was already in jail in relation to another theft case.
“We questioned him and he denied taking part in the incident but when we confronted him with the DNA evidence, he confessed and said his role was to keep guard for the men until they loaded the stolen cables,” testified an Emirati policeman, 38.
He added that the other men could not be identified as the suspect only knew their first names.
The defendant denied a theft charge in court on Tuesday.
A verdict is expected on January 15.
