DUBAI // Two men kidnapped and assaulted a labourer before demanding a ransom of Dh4,500, a court heard today.
Prosecutors said that AH, a 26-year-old labourer, and MR, a 35-year-old salesman, kidnapped MJ on July 6 this year before phoning his friend MA and demanding the ransom.
"They called me and said they locked him on the roof of a building in Naif and asked for money to set him free," said the friend, who reported the matter to police.
Officers then tracked down the two kidnappers and arranged a sting operation in which the friend pretended to be taking the ransom money to the kidnappers. When one of the kidnappers met the friend to take the money, police arrested him.
He then led officers to the hideout where his accomplice was guarding the labourer.
A Yemeni policeman said that during interrogation one of the kidnappers said the labourer's relatives in Al Ain had already paid a ransom, but that they were trying to get more from the friend.
The two men, who are both from Bangladesh, denied charges of kidnap and assault in the Dubai Criminal Court.
The next hearing was scheduled for October 22.
salamir@thenational.ae