DUBAI // A thief left a housemaid tied up in a locked room for four days after stealing a safe containing Dh1.7 million from his 77-year-old grandfather's house, a court heard yesterday. BM, 35, an unemployed Emirati, filmed the entrances and exits of his grandfather's villa in Bur Dubai while planning the robbery with H J, 34, also an unemployed Emirati, and Y A, 28, a carpenter from Yemen, Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance was told.
Prosecutors say that on the night of the robbery, March 24, HJ went to the villa and told the maid he was a police officer. He secured her hands and feet with cable ties, pushed her into a room and locked her inside. Meanwhile YA broke into the house after removing a window air-conditioning unit. The three men took the safe and drove in a rented car to a deserted location, where they broke into it with two wrenches, a screwdriver and scissors, according to forensic evidence.
Since the grandfather was away from home at the time, the maid was left tied up in the room for four days. The case was handled by the Family and Juvenile Prosecutors' office after the grandfather told investigators he suspected his grandson had orchestrated the theft. A police investigator told prosecutors that when they found BM he had more than Dh6,000 in cash and a further Dh921,000 in his safe, and they recovered Dh374,000 from YA's home when he was arrested.
The three menare said to have confessed. Police say BM told them that he had agreed with the other two to carry out the robbery and split the money three ways, according to court records. The court adjourned the case until later this month. amustafa@thenational.ae
