A man who allegedly tried to use a stun gun on a policeman was charged in court on Wednesday with attempting to cause hurt to the officer.

Sivakandesh, 23, who goes by one name, was accused of committing the crime at an open carpark in front of Block 624, Yishun Ring Road, at around 12.05pm on Tuesday. He also faces two other charges: theft and unlawful possession of a stun gun.

According to his charge sheets, Sivakandesh allegedly stole a pair of sunglasses worth $150 and a green purse containing $87.30 from a car parked there on Tuesday afternoon.

He allegedly had the stun gun while at the void deck of Block 624.

His alleged accomplice in the theft of the sunglasses and purse, Naethan Vinod Mahendran, 20, was yesterday charged with one count of theft.

Both men have been remanded at Ang Mo Kio Police Division.

Sivakandesh will be taken back to court next Wednesday. Naethan Vinod will be back the next day.

In a Facebook post last month, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam condemned an attack on a policewoman, and said he had asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to review penalties for those who assault uniformed officers.

In his post on Dec 16, he noted that there were 344 reported cases of Home Team officers suffering physical and verbal abuse while they were on duty in 2015. And from January to August last year, there were 328 reported cases.

If found guilty of attempting to cause hurt to the policeman, Sivakandesh can be jailed for up to 31/2 years , fined, caned, or receive any combined punishment.

If convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon, he can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to three years.