Murder suspect found hiding in palms

DUBAI // A Bangladeshi man who allegedly stabbed a compatriot to death has been arrested after police found him hiding among date palms in Al Gharbia. Police from Sharjah, where the alleged murder took place, say the suspect had been hiding in the date plantation for four days and was wearing bloodstained clothes. Officers said the man confessed after his arrest, admitting that he had killed his countryman, identified as Shafiullah A, after a dispute over money. Police said the suspect told them he was trying to retrieve money he had given the victim to process a visa for a relative in Bangladesh who wanted to come to the Emirates to work.

The man has been referred to the Sharjah Public Prosecution on charges of murder. According to Brig Yousef Musa al Naqbi, the head of Sharjah CID, officers found the victim's body last week when they went to his home to investigate reports of an incident in the Nabaa area. Brig al Naqbi said the body had several stab wounds, and lying beside it was a 30-centimetre kitchen knife covered with blood.

Officers found some information linking Shafiullah to another Bangladeshi national living Abu Dhabi. In co-operation with Abu Dhabi Police, they found the suspect in Al Gharbia. It is the second killing reported in the emirate in the past week. On Wednesday, police arrested a Tunisian national accused of murdering his girlfriend in the Butina area after he apparently discovered she was having an affair.