Two guys have been charged with impersonating police officers and attempted to extort money from a homeowner by cutting off his hands and tongue.
CCTV footage captures the moment the men arrive at the Canning Vale residence in south Perth, awakening the homeowner, Sabah Al-Salem.
In response to the alleged conspiracy to mutilate Mr. Al-Salem on September 9, detectives have now filed charges against three men, and Mr. Al-Salem has spoken out about the incident, demanding answers.
He told 7News that the claimed encounter ‘felt like we were in the Middle East, not Australia,’ and he wants to know who reportedly offered $25,000 for his hands and tongue.
According to him, the males wore dark clothing, gloves, and masks to conceal their faces.
Mr. Al-Salem, an Iraqi immigrant, was initially unaware that it was a hoax. He requested to see the men’s identification, at which point one of the purported imposters showed him with a card bearing the Western Australian police emblem.
In September, Sabah Al-Salem answered a knock at his house and said that two guys impersonating as police officials were come to cut off his hands and tongue (above, CCTV footage of the incident)
They allegedly knew his name, and surveillance footage shows them presenting him with what appears to be a search warrant.
Mr. Al-Salem, still standing at the front door of his home in tracksuit trousers and slides, scanned the document while bewildered.
Mr. Al-Salem then realized the visitors were not who they claimed to be and requested them to leave while he called for assistance.
“You mafia, you’re not police officers… leave,” he recalls shouting.
The men, according to surveillance evidence, forced their way into his residence.
They brought their luggage with them, which allegedly contained “torture instruments” such as straps and a saw.
Two guys allegedly pulled Mr. Al-Salem into his residence while carrying a bag containing “torture instruments.”
“People came to torture me and cut off my wrists,” Mr. Al-Salem said. “(One of the men) grabbed straps from his back pocket and said, “Show me your hands, I want to bind them.”
Then, something frightened the two men, and they fled the apartment.
The guys were charged with conspiracy to inflict heinous bodily injury, impersonating and assisting a public officer, and aggravated house burglary with intent.
Another man has been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime.
Police stated that they have not yet finished the case and that additional arrests are possible.
Mr. Al-Salem stated that he seeks answers and has no idea who allegedly intended to mutilate him.
“Thousands were paid to have me killed; who was responsible?” Still, the cops have not told me,’ he claimed.