Worker ignored police advice to stay away from vicinity of Little India riot

DSP Subramaniam N (left) and CID IO Inspector Chris Lee Tian Huat, leave the State Courts on 7 April, 2014. Construction worker Mahalingam Thavamani had insisted on entering an area in the vicinity of the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year, despite
DSP Subramaniam N (left) and CID IO Inspector Chris Lee Tian Huat, leave the State Courts on 7 April, 2014. Construction worker Mahalingam Thavamani had insisted on entering an area in the vicinity of the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year, despite being advised by police officers to stay away.  -- PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Construction worker Mahalingam Thavamani had insisted on entering an area in the vicinity of the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year, despite being advised by police officers to stay away.

This is what Deputy Superintendent of Police Subramaniam N, one of two officers who had handled Thavamani's arrest that night, told the court on Tuesday.

Thavamani is the first of 25 men charged for their roles in the Little India riot to claim trial. He faces one charge of obstructing a police officer, which carries a maximum penalty of eight years and/or a fine, but his lawyer argued that the allegation against the 27-year-old Indian national are false.

Several other police officers are expected to take the stand on Tuesday including Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Tang, who was one of the first officers on the scene that day, the second of Thavamani's two arresting officers, and an unnamed "intelligence officer".

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