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Secret society member admits attacking wedding guest with knife out of jealousy; video of Boon Lay assault went viral

SINGAPORE — Jealous that a man had been speaking to his girlfriend, Muhammad Sajid Saleem hatched a plan with a fellow secret society member to attack the man in broad daylight in Boon Lay, shortly after a wedding celebration.

A file photograph of Muhammad Sajid Saleem.

A file photograph of Muhammad Sajid Saleem.

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  • Muhammad Sajid Saleem, 20, pleaded guilty to attacking Mr Praveen Raj Chanthiran with a bread knife
  • The court heard that he was jealous that Mr Praveen had been communicating with his then-girlfriend
  • Sajid sought the help of a 19-year-old accomplice to attack Mr Praveen on the day of a mutual friend's wedding
  • The attack left Mr Praveen with multiple slash wounds and fractures 

SINGAPORE — Jealous that a man had been speaking to his girlfriend, Muhammad Sajid Saleem hatched a plan with a fellow secret society member to attack the man in broad daylight in Boon Lay, shortly after a wedding celebration.

Video clips of the incident, which took place at a car park near Block 175 Boon Lay Drive on April 6 this year, were circulated widely on social media. The attack also led to an islandwide manhunt for the duo.

On Wednesday (Nov 2), Sajid, 20, pleaded guilty to a single charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon to Mr Praveen Raj Chanthiran, 23.

Sajid, who appeared in court via a video link from remand, also pleaded guilty to a single charge of being a secret society member from July 2020 to December 2021.

Three other similar charges will be taken into consideration for his sentencing, which has been adjourned to Nov 23.

District Judge Carol Ling called for a reformative training report to be prepared for Sajid. Reformative training is a regimented rehabilitation programme for those under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) R Arvindren told the court that tensions between Sajid and Mr Praveen over Sajid's girlfriend started sometime in February this year.

It was not stated if Sajid and the woman, who was not named, are still a couple.

In any case, the prosecutor said that Sajid was “infuriated” that the woman and Mr Praveen had been messaging each other.

Though Sajid told Mr Praveen to stop it, the latter continued contacting the woman through phone calls instead.

DPP Arvindren said that this caused the two men to have an argument over Sajid’s jealousy and other personal matters.

On April 5, Sajid allegedly made a plan with a friend and fellow secret society member to attack Mr Praveen after they learned that he would be attending the wedding of a mutual friend, Mr Emmanuel Ravi, at Boon Lay the following day.

Sajid’s friend, a 19-year-old, stands accused of being an accomplice in the attack, and also faces charges for being a secret society member between 2016 and April 2022.

As he was aged 14 in 2016, he cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act, which bans the publication of the identities of young offenders under age 18.

On the day of the attack, the duo allegedly equipped themselves with a pair of bread knives they had purchased, which measured about 24cm in length, and drank beer before they left for Boon Lay.

When they arrived at Boon Lay at around 3.45pm, Sajid and his accomplice drank more beer and began tracking Mr Praveen’s movements through his social media account.

About an hour later, they spotted Mr Praveen exiting a vehicle with a group of friends, including one Sarankumar Subramaniam, 22.

DPP Arvindren said they had just returned from Mr Emmanuel’s wedding celebrations and were intending to continue with it at the groom’s home.

At about 5pm, Sajid and his alleged accomplice ran towards Mr Praveen and swung his knife towards his head.

Mr Praveen, on his part, blocked the blow with his hands, which were later slashed by his attackers.

Meanwhile, Mr Sarankumar shouted at the attackers to stop, but he ended up being slashed on the head by Sajid.

Twice Mr Praveen tried to flee, but on both occasions he was chased down and attacked by Sajid and his alleged accomplice — once outside a coffeeshop and then at the walkway of a public housing block.

The men eventually stopped attacking Mr Praveen, who they had kicked to the ground, and saw Mr Emmanuel at the car park.

DPP Arvindren said Mr Emmanuel, who was shocked at what the two men had allegedly done, had asked why they had to ruin his wedding.

The younger of the attackers allegedly pointed his knife at Mr Emmanuel in a threatening manner and wanted to slash him, but Sajid pulled him back as he “did not have any prior dispute” with Mr Emmanuel and had no intentions of harming him.

Sajid and his alleged accomplice fled the scene and disposed of their knives in a rubbish chute in the Jurong vicinity. The knives were not recovered.

They eventually surrendered to the police on April 7 after an islandwide manhunt.

DPP Arvindren said that not only had the attack left Mr Praveen with multiple slash wounds all over his body, but he also suffered fractures around his wrist, elbow and a finger.

Mr Praveen had to undergo multiple surgeries to address his injuries.

As for Mr Sarankumar, he had suffered a laceration on his scalp which measured about 8cm in length.

The case for Sajid’s accomplice is still before the courts, and he is expected to plead guilty to similar charges on Nov 9.

Anyone found guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with weapons can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined or caned.

Those found guilty of being secret society members can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to S$5,000.

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