SINGAPORE: The main culprit in a 2018 group attack on a man in Serangoon Road that left the victim with a partial amputation of his foot and severe lacerations was sentenced to corrective training and caning on Monday (Nov 22).
Arjun Retnavelu, 27, was sentenced to eight years' corrective training and 24 strokes of the cane, with an additional enhanced sentence of 360 days' jail as he reoffended while on remission.
The victim in the Serangoon Road slashing was attacked by a group of men when they spotted him at a bus stop. The group was armed with a Samurai sword, a baton and a chopper.
After various suspects were charged in court, Arjun led the police in a fruitless hunt for the Samurai sword at Lower Peirce Reservoir, where it had purportedly been discarded. The sword had actually been passed to an accomplice at a void deck in Yishun and was later recovered and seized.
Arjun Retnavelu, one of seven suspects arrested in a slashing incident at Serangoon Road, was taken to Lower Peirce Reservoir by the police. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Commercial divers at Lower Peirce Reservoir attempt to retrieve what was believed to be a weapon used in a slashing incident at Serangoon Road. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A commercial diver stands in front of the police and one of the suspects arrested over a slashing incident at Serangoon Road. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
In calling for the sentence of corrective training, which has no early release, the prosecutor noted that Arjun used weapons against two of his victims, leaving them with serious and long-lasting injuries, and played a leading role in three violent incidents.
He also has a long list of past violence-related convictions, and was involved in several fights even when he was in custody.
Arjun pleaded guilty to five charges including voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a cutting instrument, rioting while armed with a deadly weapon and pushing a police officer to deter him from his duty. Another three charges were considered in sentencing.
His co-accused, 27-year-old Pravin Rajendiran, was given 16 months' jail on Monday for a downgraded charge of voluntarily causing hurt by means of a cutting instrument, which he pleaded guilty to midway through a trial.
The court heard that Pravin had a dispute with the first victim, 33-year-old Vinoth Rajendran, and asked Arjun to help him settle it.
Arjun agreed and approached the victim while wearing a ski mask and wielding a knife at Leban Park at about 3am on Mar 10, 2018.
When the victim saw Arjun, he tried to run away but tripped and fell. Arjun slashed him several times with the knife, while Pravin looked on.
The victim was taken to hospital with slash wounds and lacerations, including one that severed nerves.
The second incident occurred on Jul 25, 2018. Arjun and four other co-accused were travelling together in a car along Serangoon Road, intending to head for lunch.
Arjun spotted the victim, 27-year-old Dhines Selvarajah, seated at the bus stop opposite Broadway Hotel. Arjun had a history of conflict with the victim, and asked the driver to stop the car.
He retrieved a box of weapons from the car boot, and armed himself with a chopper. Co-accused Dinesh Kumar Ruvy picked up the Samurai sword, while Sharvin Raj Suraj armed himself with a baton. The other two co-accused, Victor Alexander Arumugam and Haresh Shanmuganathan, were unarmed.
Together, the five men approached the victim at the bus stop. After Haresh confirmed the victim's identity, the group began attacking him, with Dinesh slashing the victim with the sword, Sharvin hitting him with the baton and Haresh throwing punches and kicks at him.
The attack on the victim spilled from the bus stop onto the first lane of the road, disrupting traffic, said the prosecutor.
Arjun accidentally dropped his chopper and took the baton from Sharvin instead, using it to hit the victim. They then returned to the car and fled the scene.
Arjun called his friend and co-accused Mathan Raj Kunasegaran and passed him the Samurai sword and the baton at a void deck at Yishun Ring Road.
The victim was taken to hospital with the following injuries: A partial amputation of the right mid-foot and lacerations on his arm, upper back and the back of his head. A partial amputation refers to when most of a body part is cut off but remains attached by some soft-tissue connection.
The victim was hospitalised for a week and given three months' hospitalisation leave.
Arjun was involved in two other scuffles - one at Lucky Plaza on Dec 15, 2018, where he pushed a police officer who was trying to arrest him and shouted that he was from a secret society, and another on Jan 2, 2019.
He had asked a man to step out of a pub at 14 Dalhousie Lane to fight with him to settle a dispute and later embarked on a car chase. He was subsequently arrested by the police and found to be in possession of a foldable knife.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh sought nine years of corrective training, 378 days' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for Arjun, citing his severe offences, numerous past convictions and high risk of reoffending.
"Despite being only 27, Arjun has managed to accrue for himself a long list of antecedents. A number of these are violent in nature," said Mr Koh.
Arjun has been given various sentences ranging from probation, reformative training, and jail with caning from 2010.
A report assessing Arjun's suitability for corrective training found that he had "several pro-violent attitudes and has been involved in several fights during and even when he went in custody", said Mr Koh.
He is at a moderate to high risk of reoffending, and only has plans to start changing his behaviour after he completes his current stint of incarceration, said Mr Koh.
The defence asked for 97 months' jail - more than eight years' jail - and 15 strokes of the cane instead, saying that it would be "unduly crushing" to have his client effectively in jail for 10 years without remission.
District Judge Salina Ishak said she was of the view that corrective training should be imposed instead of jail, in view of his "very bad antecedents" and "serious offences".
Of the co-accused, Haresh has been sentenced to three years' jail and six strokes of the cane, while Victor received more than two years' jail and Sharvin was given reformative training. Dinesh's case is pending.
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Arjun Retnavelu, 27, was sentenced to eight years' corrective training and 24 strokes of the cane, with an additional enhanced sentence of 360 days' jail as he reoffended while on remission.
The victim in the Serangoon Road slashing was attacked by a group of men when they spotted him at a bus stop. The group was armed with a Samurai sword, a baton and a chopper.
After various suspects were charged in court, Arjun led the police in a fruitless hunt for the Samurai sword at Lower Peirce Reservoir, where it had purportedly been discarded. The sword had actually been passed to an accomplice at a void deck in Yishun and was later recovered and seized.
Arjun Retnavelu, one of seven suspects arrested in a slashing incident at Serangoon Road, was taken to Lower Peirce Reservoir by the police. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Commercial divers at Lower Peirce Reservoir attempt to retrieve what was believed to be a weapon used in a slashing incident at Serangoon Road. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
A commercial diver stands in front of the police and one of the suspects arrested over a slashing incident at Serangoon Road. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
In calling for the sentence of corrective training, which has no early release, the prosecutor noted that Arjun used weapons against two of his victims, leaving them with serious and long-lasting injuries, and played a leading role in three violent incidents.
He also has a long list of past violence-related convictions, and was involved in several fights even when he was in custody.
Arjun pleaded guilty to five charges including voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a cutting instrument, rioting while armed with a deadly weapon and pushing a police officer to deter him from his duty. Another three charges were considered in sentencing.
His co-accused, 27-year-old Pravin Rajendiran, was given 16 months' jail on Monday for a downgraded charge of voluntarily causing hurt by means of a cutting instrument, which he pleaded guilty to midway through a trial.
The court heard that Pravin had a dispute with the first victim, 33-year-old Vinoth Rajendran, and asked Arjun to help him settle it.
Arjun agreed and approached the victim while wearing a ski mask and wielding a knife at Leban Park at about 3am on Mar 10, 2018.
When the victim saw Arjun, he tried to run away but tripped and fell. Arjun slashed him several times with the knife, while Pravin looked on.
The victim was taken to hospital with slash wounds and lacerations, including one that severed nerves.
THE SERANGOON ROAD SLASHING
The second incident occurred on Jul 25, 2018. Arjun and four other co-accused were travelling together in a car along Serangoon Road, intending to head for lunch.
Arjun spotted the victim, 27-year-old Dhines Selvarajah, seated at the bus stop opposite Broadway Hotel. Arjun had a history of conflict with the victim, and asked the driver to stop the car.
He retrieved a box of weapons from the car boot, and armed himself with a chopper. Co-accused Dinesh Kumar Ruvy picked up the Samurai sword, while Sharvin Raj Suraj armed himself with a baton. The other two co-accused, Victor Alexander Arumugam and Haresh Shanmuganathan, were unarmed.
Together, the five men approached the victim at the bus stop. After Haresh confirmed the victim's identity, the group began attacking him, with Dinesh slashing the victim with the sword, Sharvin hitting him with the baton and Haresh throwing punches and kicks at him.
The attack on the victim spilled from the bus stop onto the first lane of the road, disrupting traffic, said the prosecutor.
Arjun accidentally dropped his chopper and took the baton from Sharvin instead, using it to hit the victim. They then returned to the car and fled the scene.
Arjun called his friend and co-accused Mathan Raj Kunasegaran and passed him the Samurai sword and the baton at a void deck at Yishun Ring Road.
The victim was taken to hospital with the following injuries: A partial amputation of the right mid-foot and lacerations on his arm, upper back and the back of his head. A partial amputation refers to when most of a body part is cut off but remains attached by some soft-tissue connection.
The victim was hospitalised for a week and given three months' hospitalisation leave.
Arjun was involved in two other scuffles - one at Lucky Plaza on Dec 15, 2018, where he pushed a police officer who was trying to arrest him and shouted that he was from a secret society, and another on Jan 2, 2019.
He had asked a man to step out of a pub at 14 Dalhousie Lane to fight with him to settle a dispute and later embarked on a car chase. He was subsequently arrested by the police and found to be in possession of a foldable knife.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh sought nine years of corrective training, 378 days' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for Arjun, citing his severe offences, numerous past convictions and high risk of reoffending.
"Despite being only 27, Arjun has managed to accrue for himself a long list of antecedents. A number of these are violent in nature," said Mr Koh.
Arjun has been given various sentences ranging from probation, reformative training, and jail with caning from 2010.
A report assessing Arjun's suitability for corrective training found that he had "several pro-violent attitudes and has been involved in several fights during and even when he went in custody", said Mr Koh.
He is at a moderate to high risk of reoffending, and only has plans to start changing his behaviour after he completes his current stint of incarceration, said Mr Koh.
The defence asked for 97 months' jail - more than eight years' jail - and 15 strokes of the cane instead, saying that it would be "unduly crushing" to have his client effectively in jail for 10 years without remission.
District Judge Salina Ishak said she was of the view that corrective training should be imposed instead of jail, in view of his "very bad antecedents" and "serious offences".
Of the co-accused, Haresh has been sentenced to three years' jail and six strokes of the cane, while Victor received more than two years' jail and Sharvin was given reformative training. Dinesh's case is pending.
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