Hunt for suspects in Geylang stabbing leads police, CNB to wanted man
Seized items on display at Bedok Divisional Headquarters following the arrest of five men and one woman during operations conducted on Aug 30 and 31.
SINGAPORE — A hunt for the culprits involved in a stabbing incident in Geylang on Friday (Aug 30) has led law-enforcement officers to a chance discovery of a wanted man and a cache of drugs.
The man, wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), initially evaded arrest and drove against the flow of traffic.
Officers from Bedok Police Division had nailed down the identity of the 53-year-old within an hour of the stabbing, Superintendent Vasanthan Kothandom, the division’s head of investigation, told a press conference on Sunday morning.
They did so through footage from closed-circuit television cameras and enquiries on the ground.
The incident in the early hours of Friday left two men aged 24 and 26 with stab wounds at 791 Geylang Road — the premises of a nightclub named U Pub Disco.
A Swiss Army knife was among the weapons believed to have been used in the attack.
The 24-year-old victim has since been discharged, and the 26-year-old is in a stable condition at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
A dispute of a “rather petty nature” appeared to have stoked the incident, said Bedok Police Division commander Julius Lim, although he declined to give away more.
SUSPECT INITIALLY EVADED ARREST
Despite officers being hot on his tails, the 53-year-old suspect initially evaded arrest.
Hours after the incident on Friday afternoon, the wanted man, who is Singaporean, fled and drove against the flow of traffic. This was after investigation officers spotted his vehicle along Jalan Sultan in Kampong Glam district and were about to approach it, said Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Lim.
But he did not stay on the run for long. Acting on a lead, officers located the man at a hotel along Jalan Sultan at about 12.30am on Saturday.
He was nabbed by police and CNB for voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons and drug trafficking, DAC Lim said.
A stash of about 5g of “ice” — a drug otherwise known as methamphetamine — and five ecstasy tablets were recovered from his hotel room.
CNB officers later searched his hideout near North Bridge Road and found more: Ice (166g), ketamine (25g), Erimin-5, a hypnotic drug (75 tablets), and ecstasy (25 tablets). Also taken away were improvised drug utensils and two weighing scales.
That same day, he was charged in court with drug trafficking.
THE OTHER TWO MEN
The other two male suspects in the incident, aged 20 and 37 years old, were arrested on Friday and Saturday.
Officers intercepted the 37-year-old’s vehicle on Friday evening along East Coast Park Service Road. They seized a cache of drugs — ice (318g), cannabis (109g), ketamine (46g), ecstasy (241 tablets) and Erimin-5 (60 tablets) — as well as drug utensils, a weighing scale and S$5,920 in cash.
The man has also been charged in court with drug trafficking.
The haul of ice in this case — 489g — can feed the addiction of about 280 abusers in a week, police and CNB said. The drugs seized in the operation were worth more than S$67,000, the agencies added.
Meanwhile, the other 20-year-old suspect was arrested early on Saturday morning at Block 43 Chai Chee Street. He was nabbed for consuming controlled drugs and voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons, and has been referred to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre, said DAC Lim.
THREE OTHERS ARRESTED
During the operation, two other men and a woman aged between 20 and 32 — who were not involved in the stabbing incident — were also arrested for suspected drug-related offences.
The two men, who were in the same hotel as the 53-year-old suspect wanted by CNB, have been released on bail.
As for the 32-year-old woman, she had been in the car of the 37-year-old man when it was stopped along East Coast Park Service Road. She, too, has been charged in court with drug trafficking.
All told, the officers rounded up the six individuals in 28 hours.
“This is a significant achievement,” said DAC Lim, as he thanked police and CNB officers who worked on the case.
Those found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon under Section 324 of the Penal Code may be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or punished with any combination of these.
Besides the three people charged in court with drug trafficking, investigations into the other suspects are in progress.
