Secret police agents have foiled many potential theft crimes in Arafat, according to commander of Arafat Investigation Unit Col. Nasser Hazeem.
Several people pretending to be performing Haj tried to rob pilgrims in Arafat. They chose this ritual because they know that the majority of pilgrims will be busy supplicating to Allah and praying and deeply involved in performing their ritual, explained Hazeem.
Highly-trained secret police agents were dispatched to the Mount of Mercy (Jabal Al-Rahma) posing as persons from different nationalities so that thieves do not recognize them. Dozens of thieves were caught in the act and arrested.
“The secret agents were stationed at different locations in Arafat to protect pilgrims against robbers. Pilgrims were impressed with how fast the agents caught thieves and returned the stolen items to pilgrims.
Unfortunately, some men were caught after being engaged in immoral practices near the Mount of Mercy and were handed over to the police.
However, pickpocketing cases constituted the largest percentage of crimes in Arafat,” said Hazeem, pointing out that the number of thieves caught this year was lower than that of the previous year, thanks to the heightened security conditions.
An Arab pickpocket was caught while trying to rob a pilgrim. Another Asian man was caught in the act as well near Al-Nimrah Mosque. Arabs constituted the largest percentage of pickpockets followed by Asians.
All pickpockets were tried on the site itself and a judge sentenced most of them to flogging and imprisonment after they admitted their crimes. The court gave the accused full rights to defend themselves and called out victims to recognize the thieves before handing down imprisonment sentences.
Discretionary judgments were handed down to some of the accused because of the gravity of their crimes.
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