Singapore riot: Deceased created trouble, authorities learn

The 33-year-old construction worker who was killed in a riot in Little India, Singapore last Sunday night, had apparently first created a nuisance on the bus before he was run over.

This was the finding of the Committee of Inquiry during their probe into the case, the Singaporean media reported.

The deceased, Sakhtivel Kumaravelu, had reportedly boarded the bus at 9pm in a drunken state. The fully-filled bus was transporting workers from Tekka Lane to their dorms in Jalan Papan.

The Real Singapore claimed that Sakhtivel was creating a nuisance and even dropped his pants at one point.

According to the report, the 55-year-old bus driver instructed his female assistant to get the troublemaker off the bus. Sakhtivel alighted from the bus and it drove off. But as the bus was cornering into Race Course Road, it ran over Sakhtivel who had apparently been knocked down by the bus and then caught under the left rear wheel of the bus.

It is yet to be known who called the police or if the driver alighted from the bus then, but when the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived, a crowd had build and they were assaulting and throwing rocks at the bus assistant.

The SCDF rescued the female assistant and the driver from the bus, said the report.

The Straits Times reported that the bus had reversed into Sakhtivel when it was ferrying the passengers. The bus driver is being investigated for causing death by a negligent act but is currently out on bail.

According to police, no shots were fired and they acted in restraint to avoid further damage. Order was maintained at about 11.30pm.

Meanwhile, 24 Indian national suspects believed to be involved in the riot, has been charged in court Tuesday afternoon with rioting.

The Straits Times reported that the men, aged between 22 and 40, were brought to court in three different police vans before appearing in the dock to have their charges read out to them.

The court has ordered for all suspects to be remanded for a week to facilitate investigations.

Police had initially held 28 people but the other four, including two Bangladeshis and a Singapore permanent resident, were subsequently released from custody.