Four men accused of participating in Little India riot face additional charges

SINGAPORE: Four of the 25 men accused of participating in the riot in Little India on December 8 now face between one and two additional charges.

The four Indian nationals are 24-year-old Arumugam Karthik, 23-year-old Chinnappa Prabakaran, 29-year-old Bose Prabakar and 24-year-old Moorthy Kabildev.

On Friday afternoon, the prosecution tendered the additional charges in court.

Arumugam faces an additional charge of rioting where he was said to have flipped over a police car.

He is also accused of setting a police vehicle on fire.

Chinnappa is alleged to be one of the men who set fire to the ambulance.

Bose now faces a fresh charge of assaulting a police officer.

Moorthy is accused of punching 38-year-old Madam Wong Geck Woon on board a bus.

Madam Wong is the timekeeper who was injured in the riot.

The violence broke out after a fatal bus accident involving 33-year-old Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road.

Thirty-five men were initially charged in court for their involvement in the Little India riot, but 10 of them were later released after the prosecution dropped their charges.

The court also heard that one of the accused, 32-year-old Chinnappa Vijayaragunatha Poopathi, indicated through his lawyer that he may plead guilty.

His case will be mentioned on January 10.

Two of the 25 men are out on bail.

One of them is 28-year-old Arun Kaliamurthy, who is represented by lawyer M Ravi.

Mr Ravi told the court his client is a tourist on a social visit pass.

He asked the court to make an order for his client to report to the immigration authorities on a weekly basis instead of the current daily basis.

But the district judge said he is not able to make such an order.

This case will be heard on December 30.

The other person out on bail is 22-year-old Chinnathambi Malesan.

Bail is set at S$20,000.

The cases of the 24 accused will be mentioned again during the pre-trial conferences on January 29.

Four men accused of participating in Little India riot face additional charges