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Conmen posing as CID men active in Satwa

DUBAI - Conmen preying on residents by posing as CID officials in Satwa area is on the rise as a series of incidents have been reported within the past three months.

Several residents have lost money and personal belongings in various incidents after being duped by imposters, mostly of Arab origin, according to sources.

In the latest incident, about 14 residents of a bachelor villa located near Satwa bus station lost Dh2,500 and four mobile phones after they were conned by a gang of three such imposters last week.

According to the tenants, two men entered their villa at 9pm on Wednesday evening. “They introduced themselves as CID officials. Both of them were wearing casual civilian clothes. ““They told us they had come to investigate a theft since one of us was a suspect in the case. When we refused to answer their questions, they left threatening to return with more officials,” said Rahman (name changed on request) a tenant of the villa.

“At 11pm the same night, they returned with another man wearing a ‘Kandoora’ — the traditional Arab robe. He demanded that we show our labour cards which we did. Then they locked us up in one of the rooms and stole Dh2,500 and four mobile phones which were kept in the other rooms,” he narrated.

“We informed the police as soon as we could and also lodged a formal complaint,” he said.

In a similar incident, a resident in the same area lost Dh5,000 recently. The culprits used the same modus operandi to carry out the con.

Sandeep, another Satwa resident, said “Besides these con incidents, petty crimes and vandalism is also on the increase in the area.” However, the police when contacted in this connection refused to make any comment — except to say that investigations are in progress.”