SINGAPORE — Two auxiliary police officers on duty at Little India on Dec 8 claim the delayed response by police officers to control the crowd may have caused the riot to spiral out of control.

They also said many of the rioters were intoxicated.

Mr Nathan Chandra Sekaran and Mr Raymond Murugiasu took the stand on the third day of a public hearing by the Committee of Inquiry convened to look into the riot.

The pair were assigned foreign worker management duties at Little India on Dec 8.

After a bus ran over Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu, they said a crowd of about 30 started to gather around the bus, some of whom then threw objects at the bus.

The crowd, which included some who looked drunk, started to get bigger and Mr Nathan said they were outnumbered.

He also heard the foreign workers saying in Tamil that they wanted to kill bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon, whom they thought caused Mr Sakthivel’s death.

Some threatened to burn the bus.

Mr Nathan said that police officers who arrived early reported the incident and waited for back-up instead of making arrests.

He also believed that police vehicles would not have been burned if police had arrested those who threatened to do so.

Meanwhile, Mr Murugiasu claimed that one reason for the riot could be the timekeeper’s past use of harsh words on foreign workers.

Both officers said they thought foreign workers in Little India were generally manageable.

Foreign worker Ganesan Thanaraj, who was in the bus with Mr Sakthivel, also testified.

He said a worker whom he thought was Mr Sakthivel appeared drunk before he boarded the bus.

After the other workers boarded the bus, Mr Ganesan said the timekeeper raised her voice when she told Mr Sakthivel to get off the bus.

During the Committee of Inquiry hearing into the Little India riot, a comprehensive approach will be taken to consider whether current measures to manage such an incident are adequate. CHANNEL NEWSASIA