Man who wielded fake bomb, fake gun in botched robbery gets 3.5 years’ jail, 18 strokes

SINGAPORE — A former construction worker wore a pink turban as a disguise while trying to rob a pawn shop. He threatened to blow up the shop by pointing to a fake bomb belt he had rigged up using toy parts, while waving around a fake gun he had also made.

In the end, the botched robbery of the Boon Lay ValueMax pawn shop yielded no loot, but Sheikh Md Razan, a Bangladeshi national, 30, was on Monday (Sept 30) sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail with 18 strokes of the cane. 

The court heard that Sheik’s fake bomb during the incident in July last year set off a major police operation, involving the Police Emergency Response Team and the Bomb Explosive Branch.

The scene outside the pawn shop — where staff members had thrown the fake bomb believing it to be real — was not declared safe for two hours.

After Sheik fled the scene, he shaved off his beard and went into hiding. Police mounted a nationwide man-hunt, capturing him only after four days.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to five charges: One charge each of attempted armed robbery, exhibiting imitation arms (the fake bomb and fake gun) and unlawfully remaining in Singapore, as well as two charges relating to a forged work permit.

A HIGH LEVEL OF PLANNING

District Judge Teo Guan Kee noted that the actions that Sheikh took during and after the attempted robbery showed “a level of sophistication” and he had taken that into consideration for sentencing.

Sheikh had taken several steps to ensure the success of the robbery.

He wore the pink turban to disguise himself after noticing that his roommate’s face was partially covered when he wore his turban. He also thought he could put the police off his trail by appearing to be of a different ethnic group.

Sheikh also made a fake bomb belt and fake gun to incite fear when he committed the robbery. He spent a total of about two-and-a-half hours constructing the two imitation weapons.

He fashioned the bomb belt using a belt and a battery-operated toy dog with lights. He had cut the electrical components of the two LED lights as well as the lights, wires and the battery holder from the toy dog and taped it onto the belt.

To assemble the fake gun, Sheikh joined a metal pipe to the barrel of a permanent ink marker. Then, he wrapped the imitation gun with tape and sprayed it with black paint to make it look authentic.

Sheikh had also bought a chopper with a 21cm-long blade.

He scouted various locations before settling on the Boon Lay pawn shop, and then waited 20 minutes for customers to leave the premises.

During the attempted robbery on July 28 last year, terrified employees either hid or were frozen with fear as Sheik demanded that they put valuables into his bag.

In a desperate bid to get them to comply, he put the fake bomb belt on the counter of the shop. He also flashed the fake gun, and wielded the chopper at the branch manager.

After he fled the scene empty-handed, Sheikh systematically discarded the disguises, fake gun and other items.

He then changed his attire and shaved his beard and moustache to alter his appearance. To evade the authorities, he took four different buses and a taxi to return to his place of residence.

HOW HE GOT CAUGHT

After being on the run for five days, Sheikh was finally arrested on Aug 1 last year.

The police tracked him down after a resident in Jurong West had provided a "valuable lead" when he found the backpack that Sheikh had hidden behind his potted plants. Reports at the time indicated a crucial piece of evidence was the pink turban found in the backpack.

In mitigation, Sheikh’s lawyer Siraj Shaik Aziz, who is a pro-bono lawyer with the Law Society Singapore, argued that no added sentencing consideration should be given to deter Shiekh from reoffending.

He added that Sheikh is unlikely to reoffend as he will be deported back to Bangladesh after he serves his sentence and would not be allowed to return to Singapore.

Sheikh has been an overstayer since December 2017. He could not sustain himself working illegally and had to rely on his family in Bangladesh to support him financially.

He later decided that he had to resort to robbery to try to solve his financial problems.