For attempting to smuggle a man from Singapore to Batam, members of a smuggling syndicate were jailed. The syndicate consisted of seven Indonesian men, who were sentenced to two years' jail and three strokes of the cane, and a Singaporean man who was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment last Wednesday.

The immigration offender, Rasnayaka Mudiyanselage Manjula Bandara, a 28-year-old Sri Lankan man, was sentenced to three months imprisonment and six strokes of the cane.

The syndicate, consisting of seven Indonesian men and a Singaporean man, had on July 17 attempted to smuggle Rasnyaka out of Singapore. However, officers from the Police Coast Guard (PCG) and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) boarded the craft off Jurong Port at about 9.45pm and found the Sri Lankan hidden in a wooden crate.

The Indonesian men were arrested on the boat while the 55-year-old Singaporean man, Kassim Sahak, who had transported Rasnayaka in a lorry was subsequently caught. One of the Indonesians, Rahman Bada, was additionally sentenced to another four years in jail for contravening the Prohibition Entry Order.