Workers ‘knock out supervisor with cricket bat and steal money amid pay dispute’, court is told

Pakistani man said he was out cold and woke to find that Dh2,500 was missing.

DUBAI // An electrician and a carpenter are accused at Dubai Criminal Court of knocking their supervisor out with a cricket bat then stealing his mobile phone and money.

Prosecutors said that on August 31 last year, the Bangladeshi defendants, aged 32 and 34, and other men who worked at the same company in Al Qusais, attacked the supervisor on the premises and stole his phone and money because, they claimed, he was paying not them their full wages.

“The general manager of the company called me and said that the victim was threatened by workers including the two defendants,” testified the Sudanese head supervisor.

The 34-year-old said that he was told that the men had already tried to attack the supervisor, when he visited them at their accommodation earlier in the day but that he got away.

“They just scared him and kicked him out of the accommodation, the manager told me, then later that day they assaulted him on the head with the cricket bat,” said the Sudanese man.

The Pakistani supervisor, 27, said that he was in his car when one of the workers approached and knocked on his window. “When I opened the window, he snatched the mobile out of my hand so I got out of the car. It was then when I was struck on the head with the bat; I fell unconscious,” he said, adding that he saw other men standing around carrying sticks before he fainted.

When he woke, he said he discovered that Dh2,500 was missing.

The defendants denied charges of physical assault and theft.

The verdict will be issued on February 27.

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