Indian-origin man sentenced to 8 years corrective training, caning in Singapore

Singapore, November 22

A 26-year-old Indian-origin man was on Monday sentenced by a Singapore court to eight years of corrective training and 24 strokes of the cane for supplying weapons, including a baton and a samurai sword, that were used in a serious slashing incident in 2018.

Arjun Retnavelu was also sentenced to an extra 360 days in jail for reoffending while on remission, TODAY newspaper reported.

The court sentenced Arjun to eight years of corrective training. He was also sentenced to 24 strokes of the cane, the paper said.

Corrective training is a more serious form of imprisonment imposed when a court finds that an offender needs training of a corrective character for a substantial period. It usually lasts between five and 14 years, and the offender is unlikely to be given early release for factors such as good behaviour.

Arjun pleaded guilty to several serious charges, including rioting with a deadly weapon, being a member of an unlawful assembly, carrying offensive weapons in public places, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means and using criminal force on a public servant.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Timotheus Koh told the court that Arjun had a “history of conflict” with the victim, Dhines Selvarajah, another Indian-origin man who is now 30.

Aside from Arjun, four other people were involved in the slashing that happened in broad daylight along Serangoon Road on July 25, 2018. They spotted Dhines sitting at a bus stop opposite Broadway Hotel on Serangoon Road.

Wanting revenge against Dhines, Arjun asked Dinesh Kumar Ruvy, who was at the wheel, to stop at the side of the road and open the car boot.

Armed with a samurai sword, baton and chopper provided by Arjun, the group set themselves upon Dhines. He suffered serious injuries that included a partial amputation of his foot and deep cuts.

The weapons have since been seized.

Apart from the incident on Serangoon Road, the court heard on Monday that Arjun had a hand in several other offences.

One of these cases happened on December 15 in 2018, months after his arrest for the incident along Serangoon Road.

In this case, Arjun had been interfering in the arrest of two other people for disorderly behaviour, despite being warned by the police not to get involved.

Court documents stated that at some point, Arjun grabbed a police officer’s hand and refused to let go.

When the officer tried to arrest him, he pushed the officer on the chest twice and shouted vulgarities at him, claiming that he was from the “Ang Soon Tong” Triad Society, according to the paper. PTI

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