Man charged for attempted robbery with a penknife

SINGAPORE — A 44-year-old man was charged on Friday (Dec 29) with attempting to rob a taxi driver using a penknife.

Sivaraj Raveenthran faces one count of attempted armed robbery, an offence that carries a jail sentence of between two and seven years, and at least 12 strokes of the cane.

He is alleged to have attempted to rob 52-year-old taxi driver Tay Beng Lye of S$50 in the wee hours of Thursday (Dec 28).

The incident took place in the vicinity of City Plaza, said a police press release on Friday.

The police added that they were alerted to the incident by the taxi driver at around 4am on Thursday.

Sivaraj, who fled the scene after the robbery attempt, was arrested nearly two hours later, added the police.