Dubai - A disgruntled former employee slashed the man who fired him with a scalpel in front of horrified shoppers in a Dubai mall, police have disclosed. The 35-year-old Palestinian attacker launched the savage attack on his former boss after luring him into a meeting by claiming he needed to talk about staffing issues at the company.

While outside the Virgin store in Deira City Centre, the sacked employee drew the scalpel from his pocket and slashed at his Indian manager with the medical knife. After being wounded across the shoulder, the victim ran through crowds of shoppers into the record store for his own protection.
Security guards detained the knifeman as he chased his victim inside the store. They led him into an office and restrained him until police arrived at the scene. An eyewitness told 7DAYS: “I saw the pair of them standing in front of the store, they appeared to be shouting.
“Suddenly one of the men drew a knife and slashed at the other. I could see the man bleeding from a wound to his shoulder. He
then ran into the shop to escape followed by the other man.
“He was held back by security guards inside the store and locked inside a room until police arrived and arrested him. Lots of people had gathered around the scene to see what the commotion was. It was quite worrying as I thought he must clearly be mad with rage. I'm not sure what happened to the man who was stabbed.”
It was revealed yesterday that the victim had been sacked from his job the previous week and had his visa cancelled, prompting the revenge attack. The assailant has been charged by police with assault and has been referred to the Public Prosecution department for a court hearing.
Captain Khaleel Ibraheem from the Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police told 7DAYS the case was not being treated as attempted murder and that he had been charged with assault for the attack.
Police said they were still investigating the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the attack. The victim is recovering from the incident after being treated for his wounds in hospital.