BY HAMZA M. SENGENDO



DUBAI: A worker who allegedly incited a riot over the death of his colleague, in which property worth Dhs12,633,000 were destroyed, has been confirmed innocent.

The Asian tiler, 42, first appeared at the Criminal Court on suspicion he and fugitive workmates set fire to the warehouse of a contracting company along Al Maidan Street on the evening of May.18.2017

They damaged buildings and vehicles belonging to the company and a subcontracting company besides putting peoples’ lives at risk.

He denied. The court cleared him citing lack of evidence.

Prosecutors appealed. A warrant officer said a driver at the scene told him the tiler was the one who incited the violence. However, the Appeals Court overlooked the claims and maintained his acquittal.

The subcontracting company’s Jordanian engineer said that upon arrival at the scene of the realty project he found a big number of workers of the main company wrecking havoc. “They burnt one of the warehouses. They damaged many vehicles belonging to both companies in addition to inflicting damage to villas that were about to be delivered to clients, not until anti-riot teams intervened to stop them,” he explained.

The main company’s Indian bus driver said he was transporting some of the workers when they joined the riot. “They dropped boards and pieces of wood in front of the bus and stopped me from driving out of the site.

“They smashed contents of several villas then went to warehouse and set it ablaze,” he said and added that “the defendant was among them. He was the one who incited them to riot, burn and destroy property.”

The main company’s Sudanese agent said, “An employee contacted at told me a worker died inside the barracks. It was a natural death…

The company manager contacted me about the violent riot. I contacted the police. A group of workers flooded the scene and continued damaging property.

They burnt power generators and smashed vehicles. The driver spotted the defendant encouraging them.”

Records showed that the tiler was referred to Al Barsha Police Station where the bus driver allegedly recognised him during an identity parade.