SINGAPORE — He had worn the pink turban as a disguise to throw off the police. But it became the "valuable lead" that investigators worked on to nab the 29-year-old suspect behind a botched robbery attempt at a pawnshop in Boon Lay last weekend.

After being on the run for five days, Sheikh Md Razan, 29, was arrested at about 7pm on Wednesday (Aug 1) along Muscat Street near Sultan Mosque. TODAY understands he lives in the area.

At a press conference on Thursday, the police said they were able to apprehend him with the help of "follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from police cameras".

They added that a resident in Jurong West had provided "valuable lead" when he found the backpack — containing the pink turban — that Sheikh had hidden behind his potted plants.

The Bangladeshi man — a former construction worker who has been an overstayer since December last year — will be charged in court on Friday (Aug 3) with attempted armed robbery and exhibiting an imitation firearm.

Preliminary police investigations showed that on July 28, at 4.33pm, he entered pawnshop ValueMax located outside Boon Lay MRT station. Wielding a knife and what was purportedly a replica gun, he allegedly demanded that employees hand over cash and jewellery.

"It is believed that when the staff refused to fulfil his demands, he told the staff that he would blow the pawnshop up with an object that he claimed to be an explosive device," said the police.

The man subsequently threw the object at the counter before fleeing without taking any items. It was subsequently found to contain only some electrical components.

After allegedly committing the offence, he went to a Housing and Development Board block in Jurong West to discard a backpack which he had stuffed his clothing, including the turban which he used as to conceal his identity.

He hid the backpack behind some potted plants outside a house, which was discovered by one of the residents a few hours after the offence was committed. The resident, a full-time national serviceman, alerted the police.

"The man went to great lengths to conceal his identity and cover his tracks to evade detection and arrest," said deputy commissioner of Police (investigation and intelligence) Florence Chua.

Adding that he had "displayed a blatant disregard of the law in Singapore", she said: "The police will spare no effort in pursuing such criminals and deal with them in accordance with the law."

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Intelligence Department, Special Operations Command, as well as six Police Land Divisions were involved in the manhunt to track him down.

At about 12.30pm on Thursday, the police officers led Sheikh to ValueMax to re-enact his alleged offence. He was wearing a black shirt and cargo pants, the same attire he wore when he committed the botched robbery.

Then he took the police to a dustbin along a narrow pathway, a minute's walk from the pawnshop. Sheikh claimed that he had dumped the replica gun — which he told officers was assembled from spare plastic parts — in the bin.

A police officer was seen removing the bin's cover, but could not find the replica gun. Investigations on its whereabouts are ongoing. Sheikh was later led away into a police vehicle.

If found guilty of attempted armed robbery, the suspect can be jailed between two and seven years, and given 12 strokes of cane.

For the offence of exhibiting an imitation firearm when committing a scheduled offence, he can be sentenced to 10 years' jail and three strokes of the cane.

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