Police recover stolen $100,000 in under an hour

A suspect was apprehended after a mugging incident in Deira.

DUBAI // Police from the Murragabat Station recovered $100,000 and arrested a suspect less than an hour after a mugging in Deira was reported today.

The money, equivalent to about Dh372,000, was stolen from a man leaving an office .

Station chief Colonel Abdel Rahman Obeidallah, said: "An Arab man reported the mugging, claiming he was hit on the head with a metal bar by an unidentified suspect while he was carrying a bag with $100,000 out of a commercial office."

All police patrols were placed on alert and a sweep was conducted.

"Eyewitnesses said the assailant was hiding in a building," said Col Obeidallah. Police patrols surrounded the building in Deira and conducted a door-to-door search.

"We recovered the stolen bag with the money and detained the man who was immediately referred to the public prosecutors for arraignment," said Col Obeidallah.

The money was returned to the victim.

Colonel Obeidallah commended his staff for their effort.

"Surgical work like this helps curb crime significantly in the city," said Brigadier Khalil Ibrahim al Mansoori, chief of the Criminal Investigations Department.

Al Murragabat Police Station, with 360 policemen and 12 patrol vehicles, covers an area of 22 square kilometres, extending from Al Baraha district eastwards to Port Saeed district in central Deira, that is home to around 222,000 people.

According to Dubai Police, robbery is the most common crime reported in this largely commercial area.