Dubai, Nov 25 (Gulf News): General Commander of Dubai Police, Lieutenant General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, died on Thursday night.
He died at Rashid Hospital after he was rushed there following a heart attack.
The funeral prayer will be held at Zabeel after Friday prayer and he will be buried at Al Qusais cemetery.
Condolences poured in from early Friday morning. Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, condoled with the family of the Dubai Police Chief.
Shaikh Mohammad sent out a series of tweets on Friday morning. “My personal condolences to the family of Khamis Matar and his companions, the people of Dubai and the people of the UAE…”
Lt Gen Al Mazeina became the General Commander of Dubai Police in 2013. He succeeded Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim.
He was previously the deputy commander of Dubai Police.
Earlier Lt Gen Al Mazeina was the director of the general directorate for criminal investigations at Dubai Police, a role he took over in 2000.
Lt Gen Al Mazeina was appointed as deputy commander of the force through a decree issued by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2008.
Well known for his high professionalism, Lt Gen Al Mazeina has many outstanding accomplishments in the field of police and security work.
Dubai Police turned its badge black and white on social media out of respect for Lt Gen Al Mazeina.
Lt Gen Al Mazeina’s career with the police spanned some 31 years. He was involved in solving a number of high-profile cases, including the Wafi Mall heist in 2009, the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai and the murder of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim.
In September this year, he led the investigation into the sensational murder case of a Filipina whose headless body was found in a desert area in Al Warqa’a on Academic City Road.
Earlier in May, he led the investigation into the rape and murder of a Jordanian boy who was kidnapped from Sharjah.
Condolences flooded social media following the news of Lt Gen Al Mazeina’s death.
A hashtag with his name was trending on Twitter a few minutes after the news broke.
Shaikh Wassim Yousuf (@waseem_yousef), lecturer at Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque, tweeted in Arabic, "May he be in Paradise, may Allah have mercy on him."
Another user Ahmad Mousa (@ah_moosa), tweeted: "God have mercy on a man who stayed awake so people could sleep in peace and security," and prayed god to have mercy on him.
"The UAE lost one of its loyal men," said user @ahmed_dubai1 in his tweet.
Other Twitter users expressed their shock at the news and prayed for his soul.
The news has also started spreading on Facebook, with people sharing his photos, expressing their condolences and offering their prayers.
The Dubai Police social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook, changed the Dubai Police classic red logo to black and white to mourn the loss.
They also retweeted the Dubai Media Office's (@DXBMediaOffice) tweet announcing the death, "Lieutenant General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police passes away."