Indian-origin man jailed for making prank calls to Singapore Police for 18 years, jailed for 3 years
Singapore, Sep 6: An Indian-origin "serial prank caller" in Singapore who repeatedly made nuisance calls to the police, despite being jailed for the same offence previously, was jailed for three years on Thursday.
Gurcharan Singh, a 61-year-old cleaner, usually made the "999" emergency calls after drinking alcohol, the court heard.
The latest incidents occurred over two days in June, with Singh making two calls on the first day and 15 on the second, Channel News Asia reported.
On June 10, Singh called the police using a public phone at a void deck in Chai Chee housing estate. During one such call, he told the operator: "You are stupid."
"I put one dynamite to the immigration house... You are the police emergency ... You should find out everything in the world what's happening ... and question everything ... all you should have find out ... What a f***ed up police emergency you are," Singh told the operator.
He called the emergency hotline a second time later that night, again expressing his unhappiness with the immigration authorities, the report said.
Singh made another 15 calls to the police, all in one day, later that month.
Singh has been a repeat offender since 2000, with the most recent conviction in 2016, when he was sentenced to two years' jail, Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim said.
"His underlying problem is alcohol use disorder," said Lim, adding that any nuisance calls made to the police deprive people in distress of timely police intervention.
The court also ordered Singh to serve an additional enhanced sentence of 66 days for breaching his remission order.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
