DAMMAM, Oct 20(Arab News): Muggers are increasingly using motorcycles to sneak up on unsuspecting victims and steal their handbags or mobiles.
In the moments after a strike, curious onlookers swarm around the victim and sympathize with them. They cannot do anything else. The victim is then left to overcome the shock.
If he is courageous enough he goes to the police station, lodges a complaint and waits for a call from officers.
Indian national Mohamed Yousuf, who works as a design engineer at Zamil Steel in Dammam, was recently the victim of such an attack.
“Me and my wife, who has joined me only recently, were walking near the parking lot behind the governor’s office in Dammam, at around 7 p.m. on Friday,” he said.
“I saw two guys riding a white moped speeding toward us. My first instinct was to protect my wife. I thought they would harm her. In that moment they snatched her handbag and sped away.
“I didn’t even know that the handbag was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. It was only after a few minutes that my wife told me the handbag was gone. There were so many people in the area because it was a Friday evening. We shouted but they were gone. My wife has been in a state of shock since then.”
According to Yousuf, his wife’s handbag contained a gold chain, bracelet, gold ring, her mobile phone and SR500. “She should have been wearing the gold but she kept it inside her bag. We were unlucky,” he added.
Yousuf lodged a complaint at the police station near the Dammam governorate.
“The officer in charge immediately called for extra help. They all came within a short time. We explained everything to them and they asked us for the thieves’ description,” he said. “They asked if we would be able to identify them and I said yes. But not my wife. She didn’t see them. It all happened in a flash of a second.”
The police have promised to arrest the culprits and have taken down Yousuf’s contact details. He has meanwhile requested fellow expatriates and other nationals to be wary of these criminals.
“I have learned my lesson the hard way. I request others to stay alert, especially in crowded areas.”