Security guard charged over forgetting to dispose of fake bomb used in exercise

SINGAPORE: A security officer was charged in court on Tuesday (Apr 9) over his behaviour during an exercise conducted by a security company at a building in Ang Mo Kio that involved a fake bomb.

Durendran Vicknesh Venkatraman allegedly left his guardhouse at the building to meet his friends, forgot to dispose of the fake bomb as instructed and forged a record to indicate that he was at the guardhouse when he was not.

The fake bomb was later reported to the police as a suspicious item, and police officers were deployed to the building to conduct checks.

Durendran, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was handed four charges for causing alarm to the public by not disposing of the fake bomb, being absent from guardhouse duty without a valid reason, lying to the police that he had left the guardhouse to buy food and falsifying the record.

According to a police statement, a security company had used the fake improvised explosive device at 32 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 in a "red-teaming exercise" in the early hours of Jan 5 this year.

A red-teaming exercise is one that simulates a threat in a real-world scenario.

Durendran was a security officer on the night shift when the exercise was being conducted.

However, he was allegedly absent from the scene for more than five hours.

At about 4.30am, he received a call from the team carrying out the exercise asking him to dispose of the fake explosive device.

Durendran forgot to do so. He also allegedly lied to the police that he had left the guardhouse for a short period to buy food nearby, and forged a record in the guardhouse occurrence book to cover up his absence.

The record stated that he was in the guardhouse from 11.30pm on Jan 4 to 4am on Jan 5. However, he had allegedly left the guardhouse during this time to meet his friends at Oxley Tower.

At about 8.20am on Jan 5, the police responded to a call about a suspicious item that had been found at the Ang Mo Kio location.

The officers conducted security checks and established the item as a fake improvised explosive device.

"Poor management of the exercise resulted in the activation of actual police resources to the scene and more than 100 people were inconvenienced as they were prevented from entering the premises due to the ongoing checks," the police said in their statement.

Durendran indicated in court that he would be pleading guilty, but wished to hire a lawyer.

He will return to court at the end of this month.

If convicted of causing alarm under the Protection from Harassment Act, he could be fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,700).

If convicted of being absent from his duty as a security officer without a valid reason, he could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$2,000, or both.

For furnishing false information to a public servant, he could be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

For falsifying accounts, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined, or both.