Worker who robbed man also spat at cops and was tasered
A construction worker smeared chilli powder on the eyes of his robbery victim, among other crimes.
Yesterday, Murugesan Ragupathiraja, 25, was jailed for three years and seven months and given 15 strokes of the cane for his offences, which included robbery and using criminal force on a public servant.
In April, Murugesan and his accomplice, Raman Lakshmanan, went to Kovan MRT station to rob another construction worker.
They believed he was in an unauthorised remittance business and was carrying a lot of money.
Murugesan had a packet of red chilli powder and they waited for the victim at the carpark near the station.
When the victim appeared, Murugesan grabbed him from behind, threw the chilli powder on his face and rubbed it on his eyes.
Raman snatched the victim's sling bag, which had some cash and an ATM card.
Raman absconded and left Singapore on April 11.
In another incident last year, Murugesan went to Tekka Market with his friend to drink liquor.
On their way back to their dormitory, Murugesan saw wooden window panels outside a hotel. He pulled the first one forcefully, causing it to come off and damaged the other two as well.
The hotel staff reported the matter to the police officers patrolling nearby.
When they approached Murugesan, he punched one of them on the face repeatedly and slapped the other officer three times.
While in the police van, Murugesan continued struggling and spat repeatedly at the officers near him. He also tried to bite one of them in the arm. The officers eventually put a face mask on him.
In June this year, Murugesan also tried to attack police officers after he was caught destroying wooden benches in a park.
Despite being tasered, he continued charging towards the officers until he was tasered a second time.
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