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Pink Panther member found dead in Dubai jail

Dubai - The Pink Panther gang is a loosely aligned network of criminals who targeted high-end jewellery stores between 1999 and 2015.

A member of a gang internationally known as Pink Panther, who was serving a 10-year jail term over a charge of aiding and abetting in Wafi Mall jewellery shop heist, had been found dead in prison, the Court of Appeals was told on Wednesday.

The appellate court bench, which was set to hold a hearing on the case, was informed the 34-year-old Serbian had been found dead few weeks earlier in his cell in Al Aweer central prison.

The Serbian had been going through an appeal against a 10-year imprisonment and deportation ruling handed by the Court of First Instance last November and he was the third 'Pink Panther' to stand trial in Dubai in connection with the sensational heist. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge of involvement in the armed robbery charge.

The group of armed robbers drove two stolen Audi A8s through the glass façade at the mall before stopping at the House of Graff and making their getaway with jewellery and watches worth Dh14.7 million in front of stunned shoppers in April 2007.

The Pink Panther gang is a loosely aligned network of criminals who targeted high-end jewellery stores between 1999 and 2015.

The accused committed many robberies in Europe, including Monaco and Switzerland. He was arrested by the Spanish authorities in February 2014 and handed over to the UAE authorities in October 2015.

Apart from the robbery charge, he was also accused of obtaining an entry permit with a forged passport and illegally entering and exiting the UAE.

It was learned that the defendant entered the UAE with a forged Yugoslav passport on March 24, 2007, and exited on April 17, 2007.

During that time, he stayed with a Bosnian accomplice (a runaway) in a flat in Al Rafaa. The building watchman identified them when he saw their photos.

A police lieutenant said: "We had a very useful tip from a rental car office about a rented car used by the defendants. We found the car about 500 metres away from the defendant's flat. We watched the car until an Eastern European man (against whom no charges were filed) went to drive it. He told us it was rented by one of the runaway suspects."

One of the gang members had earlier been convicted by a Dubai court and sentenced to 10 years in jail for arranging for the crime tools, including masks and gloves. Another accomplice had been cleared of the charge of possessing a part of the stolen items.

Another police lieutenant said: "The accused was arrested by the Interpol after DNA traces (picked up from the robbery scene) matched with the samples saved in the Interpol's database."

mary@khaleejtimes.com