DUBAI // A man who stabbed his compatriot to death over a Dh3,000 debt has been jailed for life.
T A, 28, attacked fellow Bangladeshi Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed on January 17 while he was asleep, stabbing him three times in the ribs.
Ahmed fell unconscious and then bled to death, Dubai Criminal Court heard.
Ahmed was going to leave the country without repaying a debt of Dh3,000 that T A had given him as a loan, it was alleged.
T A was then caught by police trying to flee the country.
A Bangladeshi driver, MH, 45, told the court he received a call from the killer two days after the murder, asking if he could help him get out of the country.
“He told me he was in Fujairah but when I asked about his reasons to flee, he hung up,” M H said.
M H was then contacted by police who were informed about the murder by tenants of the villa where the man’s body was found.
“Police asked me if I had heard anything about the defendant so I told them about his phone call and request. They asked me to contact him and inform him that I had found someone to help him escape, but, when I called, his phone was switched off.”
Later that day, M H received a call from T A. The two agreed to meet so M H could take him to a man who could help him get out of the country.
But when T A arrived at the Al Khawaneej roundabout in the early hours of January 20, police arrested him.
An Emirati lieutenant, F M, 35, said the killer confessed he killed Ahmed because he was going to leave the UAE without paying the debt.
“He said he picked up a knife from the villa’s kitchen, then went to the deceased’s room where he found him sleeping. He stabbed him and when the victim woke up, he pushed him towards the bathroom where he fell unconscious and then bled to death,” F M said.
T A was sentenced to life in jail and will be deported after his term.
salamir@thenational.ae
