Man arrested for parang attack in Bedok

Witnesses at Bedok North hawker centre report seeing victim bleeding heavily

Police at the Bedok North hawker centre yesterday, where a young man ended up after being chased by his attacker. The victim has since been hospitalised.
Police at the Bedok North hawker centre yesterday, where a young man ended up after being chased by his attacker. The victim has since been hospitalised. PHOTO: SHIN MIN
The hawker centre in Bedok North where the slashed man ended up. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

A man who attacked a "friend" with a parang while chasing him to a hawker centre during a row was yesterday arrested by the police.

Witnesses talked about how the floor of the Bedok North hawker centre was "filled with blood" after a 25-year-old man known as Ridzwan had his left palm slashed.

Officers were called to the drama at around 5.20am and believe the attacker is a man in his 20s.

Ridzwan was still being treated in Changi General Hospital last night.

The suspect was arrested yesterday evening, and will be charged in court for causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon.

A taxi driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Raja, said he was eating breakfast at the hawker centre when he saw the victim run in dripping with blood - at which point his attacker stopped pursuing him and fled.

"(Ridzwan) asked for a cloth to stop the bleeding," said 64-year-old Mr Raja. "The cut was so deep I could see the bone."

A hawker grabbed a cloth while Mr Raja went to fetch water from the toilet to wash the wound.

When he returned, Ridzwan had left with a friend.

A 64-year-old hawker living in the area, who wanted to be known only as Madam Siti, said her son had gone to buy cigarettes when he saw his injured friend at the hawker centre.

She said her son woke her and a neighbour and got them to call the police and an ambulance.

Her neighbour, Madam Aini, said: "(Siti's son) was banging on the door saying (Ridzwan) has been attacked."

The 61-year-old woke up and opened the door to see Ridzwan slumped against the wall in the corridor. "I saw him covered in blood," said the 61-year-old, also a hawker. " I thought he was going to die."

Both women also said Ridzwan was a "good boy" who loved to skateboard. And Madam Aini said Ridzwan used to work as a delivery boy for Pizza Hut, and was friends with the attacker.

Another neighbour, who declined to give her name, said she was going to work yesterday morning when she saw the two men arguing and fighting at an open space outside the hawker centre.

"I was shivering with fear," the 70-year-old cleaner said.

When Ridzwan ran towards the hawker centre, she said, his attacker shouted in Malay: "Don't run, don't run, you die."

There was a 200m-long trail of blood at the hawker centre.

"The whole floor was filled with blood," said a fruit juice hawker who wanted to be known only as Madam Gan.

The 50-year-old arrived to open her stall at about 5.45am, by which time the area had been cordoned off by the police.

"All I heard was someone got attacked," she said. "I was scared."

•Additional reporting by Chew Hui Min

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 22, 2015, with the headline Man arrested for parang attack in Bedok. Subscribe