3 men charged with rioting after brawl at Orchard Towers

Three men were hauled to court yesterday for rioting following a brawl that took place outside Orchard Towers on Sunday at around 5.10am.

Abdul Hakim Jamil, 30, Muhammad Yusri Ramlee, 26, and Muhammad Fikri Junaidi, 22, each face one charge of being part of an unlawful assembly that had a common object of hurting two men - identified in court documents as Mr Mizra Abdul Azman, 33, and Mr Abdul Figo Abdul Haleem, 20.

All three men have been placed in remand and are scheduled to return to court next Tuesday.

Two other men, Muhammad Fadzli Junaidi, 34, and Muhammad Faiz Junaidi, 29, were also said to have been involved in the brawl, but were not charged yesterday.

On Monday night, the police said they arrested the three men with the aid of images from police cameras and closed-circuit television footage.

In a 14-second video shared in WhatsApp chat groups on Sunday, a group of about 20 men are seen beating up two men.

The police said they were alerted to the incident at about 5.15am on Sunday.

All the suspects involved in the fight fled before the police arrived at the scene, but there was a police camera facing the area where it took place.

Last week, The Straits Times reported that operators in Orchard Towers had been given official notice last month that their public entertainment licences would not be renewed beyond May next year.

The police said law and order in Orchard Towers remains a concern and has not improved over the years.

For rioting, offenders can be jailed for up to seven years and caned.