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Shangri-la shooting inquiry ends; findings on April 22

SINGAPORE — The three-day Coroner’s Inquiry into the death of car driver Mohamed Taufik Zahar during a shooting near the Shangri-La Hotel last May came to an end yesterday, with one of the vehicle’s passengers giving evidence.

SINGAPORE — The three-day Coroner’s Inquiry into the death of car driver Mohamed Taufik Zahar during a shooting near the Shangri-La Hotel last May came to an end yesterday, with one of the vehicle’s passengers giving evidence.

The State Coroner will deliver his findings on April 22.

In his closing submissions, Second Solicitor-General Kwek Mean Luck said that given the circumstances on May 31, where a high-security event was being held at the hotel, the police had to take action as warnings had been given to Taufik to pull over his car.

A total of nine witnesses were called to the stand during the inquiry into the shooting incident, which began in the early hours of May 31.

Taufik, 34, Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, 26, and Mohamed Ismail, 31, were in a red Subaru Impreza when they were stopped by the police at a checkpoint near Shangri-La Hotel.

The hotel was then hosting a high-level security summit involving defence ministers, defence officials and military chiefs.

Instead of complying with the police’s checks, Taufik, the driver, suddenly accelerated and crashed his car through police barricades, endangering the officers’ lives.

The police officers opened fire at the vehicle, which stopped at the junction of Orange Grove Road and Anderson Road, and Taufik was shot dead, the inquiry heard.

Mr Kwek said the lesson from this coroner’s inquiry cannot be “that the police should hesitate from stopping threats in similar situations in future”.

“Defending against terrorism is already a difficult enough task. It has been called an asymmetric war, because it is difficult to know when terrorists will strike …” he added.

Three witnesses, including a police inspector and a Health Sciences Authority forensic scientist, took the stand yesterday.

The third witness, car passenger Syahid, who gave evidence via video link from prison, said Taufik was driving along Scotts Road and onto Stevens Road, when he missed a left turn and continued to head straight.

Along that stretch of road, a police officer waved a bright-coloured light stick as Taufik was driving fast. Taufik was told that there was a security event ahead and he should not drive so fast, said Syahid.

When Taufik asked the officer if it was all right if they did not proceed towards the roadblock, the officer said it was up to them. Syahid said he and Mohamed asked Taufik to make a U-turn.

“I do not recall whether he made an attempt to make any U-turn. I do not know why, he just went straight to the roadblock point.”

Syahid said the police officers wanted to conduct a check on the car, but he felt scared as he had drugs with him that day. He later asked Taufik to “go” when the latter asked what he should do next.

Taufik then drove the vehicle straight into the crash barriers, Syahid said.

“... Suddenly, I heard about three loud bangs. I was scared.”

That was when Syahid realised Taufik had been shot.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Kwek said when Taufik’s car crashed through the concrete barrier, the police did not know, and did not have the time or opportunity to find out why the car crashed through, what it carried and where it was going.

“The threat of danger in those circumstances was real. The police had to act, and they did. They were carrying out their duty to ensure the safety and security of the Singapore public in doing so,” he added.

FOR COLUMN

The Coroner’s Inquiry heard from a wide range of witnesses and experts, including forensic scientists and police officers involved in the case. It was also presented with evidence such as conditioned and police statements from 19 witnesses, three drug laboratory reports and three CCTV videos.

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