Second man convicted of rioting in Little India gets jail, caning

SINGAPORE — A former construction worker who had a hand in flipping over three police cars and setting another on fire during the Little India riot was yesterday sentenced to 33 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

Arumugam Karthik (picture), 25, is the second man involved in the incident to be dealt with for the offence of rioting. The first, Ramalingam Sakthivel, 33, was last week sentenced to 30 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen argued for harsher sentences for Arumugam, pointing out that he was more culpable than Ramalingam — who had flipped over a police car, hit an ambulance with a pole and hurled projectiles at police officers and vehicles.

He added: “His actions were audacious and calculated, and reflected his singular quest to show the authorities that he had absolutely no fear of them.”

Arumugam was also an active participant in the destruction and carnage wreaked on the streets that night and his actions reflected contempt for authority, he said.

The court heard that Arumugam was leaving for home after drinks with a friend in the Little India area that day when he walked into a crowd of rioters. Seeing some men flip over a police car onto its side, Arumugam helped overturn another police car nearby.

He also hurled objects, such as a concrete slab, against a fire engine and smashed the rear and front windscreens of another police car, before gathering others around him to overturn the vehicle.

After helping to overturn a third police car, he also tried to dislodge a pipe feeding fuel into the engine of the car, with the intention to set the vehicle on fire.

He then called out for a lighter from the crowd, before passing it to another rioter to set the car on fire.

In mitigation, Arumugam’s lawyer V Ramesh said his client has an impeccable work record in his four years here. His behaviour that evening was totally uncharacteristic, added Mr Ramesh, noting that Arumugam did not have any previous brushes with the law.

But District Judge Ong Hian Sun said the courts needed to send a strong signal that such acts cannot be tolerated. The maximum jail terms for rioting and mischief by fire are seven years each.

Six men have been sentenced to between 15 and 18 weeks’ jail on charges of failing to disperse. The cases against 17 others are ongoing.