Behind baaas: man accused of leading UAE sheep rustling gang

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Behind baaas: man accused of leading UAE sheep rustling gang Livestock rustlers were caught trying to load a sheep into the back of a rented van, a Dubai Court heard. A 29-year-old unemployed Pakistani man and two accomplices allegedly used wire cutters to make a large hole in the farm’s fence then dragged the animal through to their getaway vehicle. However, Dubai Court of First Instance heard the men were spotted by farm workers. The Pakistani man appeared in court on Wednesday, where he denied attempted theft and causing more than Dhs800 of damage at the farm. Prosecutors said that, on March 4, the accused, along with the other two men, rented the van and headed to the farm in Al Hibab in the early hours. A 35-year-old Indian shepherd said that, about 1am, he was on the farm when a workmate called saying that he had seen a number of men near the farm’s fence. He said they were dragging a sheep. “I met him and we rushed to the fence and saw the men stealing the sheep,” he said. “We managed to corner them but only succeeded in restraining one of them, the others escaped.” The workers called Dubai Police, who arrested the suspect and launched an investigation. “The suspect confessed they had rented a red van and damaged the fence to steal the sheep. They had been monitoring the farm for some time,” a policeman said. Officers later arrested a second suspect, who has been referred to prosecution. The third suspect, the jobless Pakistani, was arrested in September. “We managed to get his name from his accomplices and discovered that he was specialised in stealing sheep and was wanted for previous incidents in different cities in the UAE,” the policeman said. “He was the ring leader of the gang. They would sell the sheep in Ajman.” The trial was adjourned to next month to hear from the defence. ali.shouk@7days.ae Read the original story at: Behind baaas: man accused of leading UAE sheep rustling gang