Poly student dies in PIE crash between motorcycle and lorry

Police have arrested a 26-year-old male lorry driver for drink driving and dangerous driving which led to an accident and resulted in the death of a polytechnic student who had celebrated his birthday just two weeks ago.

The Republic Polytechnic part-time student, Mr Muhammad Musharraf, 25, was heading to Johor Baru to get necessities for his family when the fatal acci-dent happened.

He was flung sideways off his motorbike in lane one and landed in lane four while riding on the Pan-Island Expressway after the Upper Jurong Road exit on Jan 12 at around 10pm. He was taken conscious to the National University Hospital (NUH).

Around 11.35pm that night, doctors told the family to go to NUH immediately as Mr Musharraf was in a critical condition, his sister Salimah Razak told The Straits Times.

Ms Salimah, 21, and her mother arrived at the hospital at 12.05am while her 29-year-old brother arrived shortly after.

"Soon after, the doctor broke the news that my brother had passed away at 12.02am," said Ms Salimah.

"I was in a state of shock. I had to see the body, to confirm that it was really him. My mum was crying and begging us to tell her what was going on."

At 12.15am, Ms Salimah entered the room alone to see her brother.

"I broke down. I couldn't believe this was real," she said.

The 1.9m tall Mr Musharraf was in the Special Operations Command of the Singapore Police Force during his national service, and was part of the team called up for duty during the Little India riots in 2013.

He was passionate about football and the police force, and wanted to return to serve after his studies, Ms Salimah said.

"My brother prioritised safety a lot. He wouldn't go near big or heavy vehicles," she added.

Ms Salimah, who will be starting school at Republic Polytechnic this year, said: "My brother promised to take me to school on the first day of my term. It will not be easy. We were very close."

Police investigations are ongoing.