SINGAPORE - An 84-year-old man is being investigated by the police for lodging a false report.

In a statement on Saturday night (Jan 20), police said that the man made a report at around 10.20am on Friday, alleging that he was stabbed twice in his arm by an unlicensed moneylender.

He gave the location of the supposed crime as Block 234, Hougang Avenue 1.

In a Facebook post on Friday evening, the Hougang neighbourhood police centre (NPC) said that it received a call earlier that day stating that a man was "stabbed twice and was bleeding profusely".

"Without delay, officers from Hougang NPC and Ang Mo Kio Division proceeded to the scene along Hougang Ave 1 and initiated investigation," the post said.

However, officers later detected several inconsistencies during their investigation, the police statement said.

They later established that the man had provided false information in his report.

Preliminary investigations also showed that the man's injuries were self-inflicted.

A resident told Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News on Sunday that he saw two police cars at the block that day. Several onlookers had also gathered at the void deck.

The newspaper added that the man is believed to have owed loan sharks about $1,000 and he had previously received threats from them.

Investigations are ongoing.

The police said in their statement that "police resources can be put to better use in dealing with real crimes and emergencies than investigating false reports or false information".

Anyone convicted of giving false information to a public servant may face a maximum jail term of a year, a maximum fine of $5,000, or both.