Indians convicted of murder executed in Dubai

Three Indians convicted of two murders linked to Bombay underworld rivalries were executed by a firing squad on Friday morning, sources said.

The three men have been identified as Dhananjaya Rajanna Anchan (25), Mullan Kannumal Devanandan (35) and Shyam Sunder Suleshaayamen (32). They were found guilty of shooting to death Sunil Kumar, an Indian, and Majibullah Musalman, a Nepali, on August 5, 1995, on a Dubai street.

Dubai Attorney General Ibrahim Bu Melha said on Thursday that the executions were scheduled for Friday dawn.

This was the second execution in the modern history of Dubai. The first was carried out in September last year when a local man was executed for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl.

The three men were sentenced to death by the criminal court in Dubai last December and the verdict was upheld by the appeal courts in April. The verdict was also ratified by the ruler of Dubai this month.

Melha said the three convicts had been informed that their sentences would be carried out on Friday morning. He said they were given the opportunity to speak to their relatives in India on Thursday night.

The reports quoted Melha as saying that Dhananjaya and Shyam Sunder had come to Dubai for the sole purpose of murdering the two victims, who were reportedly members of the rival Dawood Ibrahim gang. The actual shooting was done by Dhananjaya while the other two were accomplices, reports said.

Majibullah died of a single shot in the chest, while Sunil succumbed to bullet injuries on the way to a hospital.

According to the prosecution, the Dubai authorities had dealt with the crime "prudently and severely" because it involved public security and was a case in which the city's streets had been "turned into a stage for crime".

"The crime is foreign to the peaceful society of the United Arab Emirates. It came to us at the hands of some people who are so deeply rooted in crime that they have created havoc everywhere by killing and marring the security of other societies", Melha said.

"For these people, bloodshed is of no serious consequence. Not only have they violated laws and committed crimes in their country, they also came to chase their rivals in other parts of the world, spreading terror and killing anyone who dare stand in their way or reveal their secrets", the Dubai-based Khaleej Times quoted him as saying.

According to the newspaper, Dhananjaya had admitted that he had murdered nine people in India earlier.

"Nothing is as horrific and cruel as a criminal emptying the bullets of two pistols into two others on a public road", Melha said.

According to him, the wife of one of the victims had urged the court to accept relinquishment of her right to diya (blood money) because she feared retaliation against her and her children.

Devanandan had been living and working as a tailor in Dubai for a long time. He met one of the Arun Gawli gang's leaders, Mohan Kotian, in India and agreed to wipe out three of their rivals living in the UAE, the reports said.

"Mohan commissioned Devanandan, as well as two other gangsters living in India, to carry out the murder in Dubai", they said.

Dhananjaya and Shyam Sunder arrived in the UAE in June 1995, and stayed in Sharjah, where they planned the murders, following the movements of their intended victims, the reports said.

On the day of the killings, Shyam Sunder informed Dhananjaya that Sunil was in his shop.

After locking the shop, Sunil, accompanied by Majibullah, was walking down the Naif Road in Dubai when Dhananjaya opened fire.

Dhananjaya fell into a manhole while fleeing from the scene to join Devanandan who was waiting for him in a car. They were caught by passers-by, the reports said.