Three lauded for helping police nab suspects, find missing girl
Security officer helped nab illegal immigrants, Certis Cisco officer found missing girl and Grab employee provided info to solve break-in
A security officer was on duty at a construction site in Tuas South Boulevard when he spotted three men trespassing.
Mr Logaisraja Nadurajah, a 32-year-old Malaysian, alerted the police and pursued the men.
He shouted for them to stop, but they made a run for it.
Mr Nadurajah got on his motorcycle and gave chase. The three men were arrested shortly after.
For his brave act, Mr Nadurajah was awarded the Public Spiritedness Award along with two others yesterday.
Recalling the incident that happened in the wee hours of Oct 21 last year, he said: "They ran very fast. Two of them got into a taxi. I took a video and recorded the taxi's licence plate number."
A response involving close to a hundred officers led to the arrest of the two suspects in the cab. The third suspect was caught in a subsequent operation.
All three were later confirmed to be illegal immigrants from Indonesia who had swum ashore.
MISSING GIRL
Another award winner was Mr Hidayat Hassan, an auxiliary police officer from Certis.
Mr Hidayat was on the way to his parents' home in Bukit Panjang on Oct 19 last year when he was approached by two police officers scouring the area for a missing seven-year-old girl.
The 37-year-old went to great lengths to locate her after delivering some items to his parents.
He canvassed the neighbourhood and asked residents at the void deck if they had seen the girl.
Mr Hidayat said: "As a father, I thought about how I would feel if I were to lose my children, how devastated I would be. I just felt like helping out."
The officer, who has a 10-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, eventually spotted a girl matching the description provided by the police in Bukit Panjang Ring Road.
He approached the girl, who has special needs, and took her to Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood Police Centre.
The girl was reunited with her parents as a result of his efforts.
CRUCIAL INFO
The third winner was Mr Desmond Ng, a Grab liaison officer in his 40s.
The police were alerted to a break-in on the night of Oct 31 last year, when a victim's safe box containing money and jewellery amounting to $70,000 was stolen.
On Nov 14, investigators approached Mr Ng with a request to trace the movements of two suspects.
Mr Ng promptly provided the police with crucial information about the suspects' Grab travel history that led to their arrest on the same day.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Devrajan Bala, commander of Jurong Police Division, said: "We hope that the strong sense of civic-mindedness and courage displayed by these exemplary citizens will inspire others to do the same."
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