Five men in Serangoon slashing case charged in court

SINGAPORE — Five men aged between 17 and 28 were charged on Friday (July 27) for their roles in a slashing incident along Serangoon Road.

Victor Alexander Arumugam, Arjun Retnavelu, Haresh Shanmuganathan, Dinesh Kumar Ruvy and Sharvin Suraj were charged with rioting while armed with deadly weapons. They will be remanded for a week.

If convicted, they may be jailed up to 10 years and caned.

They were among seven men arrested by the police less than 24 hours after the alleged attack, which took place on Wednesday afternoon. The attack is believed to have arisen from a personal feud.

The accused suspects in the Serangoon slashing case arriving at the State Courts on Friday (July 27) in a police van. They have been charged with the offence of rioting armed with deadly weapons. Photo: Najeer Yusof

Investigations against the two remaining suspects are still ongoing.

On the day of the incident, the seven men allegedly attacked a 27-year-old man with a kitchen knife and a samurai sword, leaving him with slash wounds on his body, the back of his head, as well as his arms and legs.

They then fled in a rental car, a silver-coloured Nissan, leaving behind the knife and an ATM card at the scene. Their relationship with the injured victim is not known.

The victim was conscious when he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he is believed to be in a stable condition.

On Thursday morning, the police said they nabbed the suspects in the vicinity of Corporation Road and Sin Ming Industrial Estate.

Later in the day, Retnavelu was taken to Lower Peirce Reservoir as part of investigations.

The 24-year-old is believed to have wrapped the samurai sword in an orange cloth and thrown it into the reservoir while he was drunk on Wednesday, some two hours after the incident.

He is also said to have wrapped a metal baton in the cloth and dumped it in the reservoir. It is not known whether the baton was used in the attack.

Despite a four-hour search for the sword on Thursday, divers came up empty.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam said it was “excellent work” by the police.

“There was a horrific attack, on Serangoon Road. In broad daylight, in public. Men attacking with knife, sword,” he wrote. 

He reiterated that it was "really good work" by the police to have found the suspects so quickly. 

“The lesson is: in Singapore, the police will find the suspects, and find them quickly.”

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