SINGAPORE : The armed NSman, who was caught in Orchard Road on Monday night, has been charged in court with carrying a firearm unlawfully.

20-year-old Corporal Dave Teo Ming went missing on Sunday night from Mandai Hill Camp.

A 20-hour manhunt for CPL Teo, who had the SAR 21 assault rifle for guard duty, ended on Monday night at Cathay Cineleisure.

CPL Teo has been charged under the Arms Offences Act which states that any person who is found guilty of unlawfully carrying any firearm shall be punished with a jail term of not less than 5 years and 6 strokes of the cane.

No plea was taken and CPL Teo will be remanded for another week. His case will be mentioned next Wednesday.

Along with CPL Teo, another man was charged in court under the Arms Offences Act.

The court statement said 21-year-old Ong Boon Jun was in the company of CPL Teo who was unlawfully carrying a firearm at Champagne Hotel in Geylang on Monday morning.

It added that there was reasonable presumption that Ong knew that CPL Teo was carrying such a firearm.

The room had been booked under the name of a Thai National.

MINDEF said the Singapore Armed Forces takes a very serious view of weapon and ammunition control as well as of this incident involving CPL Teo.

The SAF has in place strict measures to control the management of both weapons and ammunition, which require that all weapons and ammunition are accounted for before any serviceman is allowed to leave camp premises.

It added that following this incident, MINDEF and the SAF are carrying out a review of security systems and will tighten controls as required.

MINDEF and the SAF will continue to assist the Police in the investigation of CPL Teo's case.

Police stresses that the safety of the public was foremost as they planned CPL Teo's capture. Maintaining operational secrecy was also vital to a safe and successful operation.

And in the interest of public safety, a decision was taken by the police not to make the information public as that might put him on his guard or make him feel cornered, and this might also endanger the public. - CNA/ch