Six men charged with abusing public servants, including police and NEA officers

SINGAPORE — Police officers and other public servants were just doing their jobs, but they were allegedly spat on, shoved, sworn at, and headbutted, in a string of unrelated incidents across the island that wound up in court on Thursday (May 16).

In all, six Singaporean men aged between 20 and 58 were charged in the State Courts with abusing the various public servants, which also included a National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officer, and a National Parks Board (NParks) officer.

They are:

• Kobal G Perumal, 58. He allegedly bumped and pushed an NEA enforcement officer who checked him for littering along North Bridge Road on April 7, 2018.

• Richard Tan Han Woon, 20. He was accused of pushing an officer from the NParks, and using his elbow to hit her arm and chest when he was caught fishing illegally at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on July 8, 2018.

• Kulbir Singh Raghbir Singh Vigil, 28. He is said to have assaulted a Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedic by headbutting him, while seeking medical treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) on Jan 1 this year. Among other charges, he also allegedly committed a rash act by throwing a flower pot down a block of flats, and was drunk at Marymount MRT Station.

• Chandran Sinnathamby, 49. Similar to Kulbir, he is accused of hurling vulgarities and spitting at police officers at TTSH on Jan 1.

• Manoher Ramanan, 27. He was charged with pushing and shouting vulgarities at a police officer, who had stopped him at a roadblock along Hougang Avenue 8 on Jan 4.

• Randhir Nehru, 38. He allegedly spewed vulgarities at police officers and kicked one of them on the cheek at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown on Jan 4. He was also charged with being drunk in a public place, by rolling on the ground and shouting loudly.

The police said on Wednesday that it has “zero tolerance towards such acts of violence against public servants who are carrying out their duties and will not hesitate to take action against those who blatantly disregard the law”.

Using abusive language against a public servant carries a maximum punishment of 12 months’ jail and a S$5,000 fine.

Anyone convicted of voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from their duty can be jailed up to seven years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of the three as penalty.

Anyone convicted of using criminal force against a public servant in the discharge of their duty can be jailed up to four years and fined.

All six men were released on bail, and will be back in court on a later date.