8 more arrested over Little India riot

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8 more arrested over Little India riot



By Dylan Loh
POSTED: 10 Dec 2013 22:09

As of 6am on Tuesday morning, eight more Indian nationals were arrested in the wake of the Little India riot on Sunday. And more people may be apprehended in the coming days, said police in a news conference.



SINGAPORE: As of 6am on Tuesday morning, eight more Indian nationals aged between 22 and 38 years old were arrested in the wake of the Little India riot on Sunday.

And more people may be apprehended in the coming days, said police in a news conference on Tuesday.

Authorities are also going to install more cameras in the vicinity of Race Course Road in the coming week to monitor the situation.

Along with increased police presence and the alcohol ban in Little India this weekend, they aim to ensure things remain calm and orderly.

At around 9.23pm on December 8, police were informed of a bus knocking down an Indian national in Singapore's Little India.

Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived within 15 minutes.

By 9.45pm, a crowd of about 400 people, mostly foreign workers, had gathered around the site.

SCDF officers tried to extricate the man knocked down by the bus, and were pelted with projectiles by the mob at around 9.56pm.

Police investigations revealed that the Indian national appeared fairly unsteady and was chasing after the bus.

He then fell onto the path of the bus's rear tyre and was run over.

The scale of investigations conducted by authorities after the riot was massive.

176 people were brought to the Criminal Investigation Department for questioning. And more than 10 foreign worker dormitories were also checked islandwide.

Authorities also checked Housing Development Board flats where foreign workers lived.

Some 3,700 foreign workers have been interviewed.

Along with cameras installed in Little India, there will also be increased police presence there, and at Golden Mile Complex and Geylang where foreign workers normally congregate.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: "The vast majority of those who live in Singapore, Singaporeans as well as those who come here to work, want a safe and orderly environment, and this is what we intend to continue to maintain.

“So the police, other security agencies and all government agencies will work together to make sure that we can do so."

Members of the Committee of Inquiry looking into the riot will be revealed at the end of the week. Their terms of reference will also be made known.

Commenting on the issue, Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said there is no evidence to suggest that the foreign workers involved in the riot were unhappy with their employers or the government.

He was responding to various comments made which implied that such unhappiness was a cause for the riot.

Mr Shanmugam said: "Looking at what the majority of Singaporeans want, they will want us to treat the foreign workers in a humane way.

“You know, the majority, they recognise that many of them are needed. They recognise that many of them are good people, they are here to earn a living. But we must make sure the minority don't create trouble."

Mr Shanmugam said there was no excuse for the violence, and that swift and decisive action will be taken against those who break the law.

The Singapore School and Private Hire Bus Owners' Association said that every Sunday and public holiday, there will be 240 drivers ferrying 20,000 foreign workers from their dormitories to Little India and back.

The association met the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday to discuss how to safeguard their drivers' safety.

The association said it is waiting for LTA's decision on whether the service will be disrupted for one or two weeks.

- CNA/nd

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...er/918066.html


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