Indian-origin man gets 10 years’ jail for assaulting cop in Singapore

Singapore, July 11

A 25-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in jail and fined S$4,000 for punching and kicking a police officer during a raid in 2020, a media report said.

Nikhil M. Durgude had pleaded guilty last month to eight charges, including voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, possessing cannabis and consuming methamphetamine.

Fifteen other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing, The Straits Times reported.

District Court Judge Jasvender Kaur noted that Nikhil also hurled abusive insults at the police officer during the attack, which showed his “utter disregard for authority”.

“Officers deserve to feel assured that they will be adequately protected by the law,” the judge said.

According to court documents, three officers, including Senior Staff Sergeant Chua Ming Cheng and Inspector Zheng Yiyang, went to a unit at City Suites in Balestier as part of a police operation on November 5, 2020.

They identified themselves as police to Nikhil and his accomplices, Prakash Mathivanan and Malani Naidu Prabhakar.

After a while, Prakash lunged at Staff Sergeant Chua, causing him to fall. He then hit the officer in the face and upper body, the report said.

When Inspector Zheng pointed his revolver at Prakash asking him to stop attacking, the latter grabbed his hands.

Before Chua could get up and assist Inspector Zheng, he was attacked by Nikhil, who punched and kicked him repeatedly.

He fell again and Nikhil continued to assault Chua as he lay on the floor, The Straits Times reported.

"The accused did so to prevent Staff Sergeant Chua from assisting Inspector Zheng, and intending, therefore, to deter Chua from discharging his duty as such public servant," the prosecution told the court.

Nikhil stopped his attack on Chua when two other officers were led into the unit after some time.

The three men were arrested and taken to the Central Police Division headquarters where the authorities detected methamphetamine in Nikhil's urine after tests.

Staff Sergeant Chua suffered a cut on the forehead and abrasions on his right elbow and left forearm, and was admitted to Singapore General Hospital for treatment.

--IANS