Indian-origin man admits to attacking cop in Singapore
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Jun, 2023 01:51 PM
Singapore, June 2 (IANS) An Indian-origin man in Singapore admitted to attacking a police officer in 2020 and leaving him with a bloody face, a media report said.
Nikhil M. Durgude, 25, pleaded guilty on Thursday to eight charges including one for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, The Straits Times reported.
Also charged with possessing cannabis and consuming methamphetamine, Nikhil is expected to be sentenced on June 16.
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.
For voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, Nikhil could be jailed for up to seven years, caned, or fined.
US President Donald Trump has said there is "a good chance" that he will declare a national emergency to obtain funding for his long-promised US-Mexico border wall.
Union minister Arun Jaitley, who missed presenting the sixth and the final Budget of Narendra Modi government's current term due to ill health, today said he is much better now and expects to be back soon.
Bhavin Patel, 27, was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court in London on Thursday along with an accomplice, 25-year-old Lawrence Amoah, who was jailed for five years and seven months after the duo pleaded guilty to the offence of supplying Class 'A' drugs.
The recent decision by Pakistan's top court to overturn Asia Bibi's death sentence and free her from jail is obviously welcome news, a US lawmaker said.
Without the knowledge of the conspirators, the university was operated by special agents of the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) as part of an undercover operation, from a small building in Detroit area.
