Dubai police have arrested two men for the murder of a jewel salesman during a robbery in the Gold Market.
The victim, Arvind Prabhu Das, a 37-year-old father of three, was discovered in a pool of blood last Tuesday at Star Plaza, a diamond and precious stone wholesaler.
Police sources were quoted by the Gulf News as saying that the victim bled to death from four slash wounds to his throat and others to the back of the head.
The premises had been ransacked and gems worth Dh5.1 million (about $1.4 million) were stolen.
Police then launched a massive investigation involving 54 officers in Dubai and teams in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. The two suspects were arrested on Saturday.
Serji Doboni, a 21-year-old Russian, and Sefiri Andre, a 29-year-old Ukrainian, were arrested in Sharjah and the missing jewels were recovered.
Brig. Saeed Al Kamdah, Acting Chief of Dubai Police, said the murder was committed at 3:00pm last Tuesday, but was not discovered until 6:00pm, when Star Plaza owner Pareshkumar Mangubhai Pancholi returned to the shop.
Investigators quickly established that more than one person was involved. They found that a Russian had recently worked at the shop, but was not under the company's sponsorship, and the partners did not know his name and did not have a passport photocopy.
"When we discovered the worker was Russian, we started investigations in this direction," Kamdah said. "With the help of Ras Al Khaimah Police Department, information about the Russian worker was collected and he was identified as Serji Doboni, who was in the UAE on a visit visa.
"In cooperation with Sharjah Police, we found out that Doboni and an Ukrainian called Sefiri Andre, who was also on a visit visa, were hiding in Sharjah."
Eleven officers forced their way into the flat at 2:30pm on Saturday. "The two men tried to escape out the window onto the roof of the next building, but were arrested after a struggle."
Kamdah told the paper that two bags of stolen gems were found in a search of the flat, two stones were found in Andre's pocket and fake passports, which they planned to use to flee the country, were also recovered. The jewels were later identified by the shop owner.
"They have confessed to committing the murder and the robbery," Kamdah said. "Doboni said that he bought a sharp tool from a supermarket three days before the crime.
"They confessed that one of them hit the salesman with the sharp tool. When the victim called for help the second slashed his throat several times until they were sure he was dead,” the officer said – Albawaba.com
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