Indian-origin man in Singapore jailed for daylight robbery at jewelry shop
Singapore: An Indian-origin man was on Thursday sentenced to over three years imprisonment and six strokes of the cane for masterminding a daylight robbery at a jewelry shop in Singapore.
M Jegatheesh, 28, admitted to robbing gold jewelry worth 119,000 Singapore dollars (USD 88,167) with two other men, choosing to target the shop in Ang Mo Kio Avenue as it looked old and its owners were elderly.
The court heard that Jegatheesh was a Gojek (private taxi) driver at the time of the offense. His co-accused, Veeramani Subran Das, was a Grab (also a private taxi) driver then, while the third accused, 32-year-old Sharavindran, was unemployed. They are also of Indian-origin.
Jegatheesh planned to use his Honda Civic along with a Toyota Vellfire belonging to Veeramani.
On August 13, 2019, the three men met and Jegatheesh told the rest of his plan to rob the shop the next day.
He targeted the place as it looked old and he thought it would not have any alarms installed. He also thought that the elderly owners would not be able to put up resistance.
Veeramani agreed to play the role of the getaway driver and to transport the gold to Sharavindran, who was asked to help sell it.
At about 2.40 PM on August 14, Veeramani drove the Toyota to the car park before Jegatheesh parked his car next to him. Veeramani then took over the wheel of the Honda, while Jegatheesh moved to the back seat and put on clothes including a long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie, gloves, and a helmet.
When Jegatheesh entered Hock Cheong Jade & Jewellery shop at 4.07 PM, the co-owners, aged 70 and 75, were there.
Jegatheesh tried to pull down the roller shutter at the entrance, before shouting "Don't move! Don't talk!" and jumping over the jewelry display counter.
The two co-owners pressed the hidden alarm buttons to notify an external security company. They did not confront Jegatheesh as they feared for their safety.
Jegatheesh swept the jewelry, including gold necklaces, bracelets, and pendants, into a duffel bag he brought with him.
Jegatheesh had been set for a trial but pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of conspiring to commit robbery, with two other charges taken into consideration.
For robbery, Jegatheesh could have been jailed between two and 10 years and given at least six strokes of the cane.
The prosecutor asked for three years and six months' jail and six strokes of the cane as Jegatheesh was the mastermind of the offense.
He said the robbery, which caused "wide public alarm", was committed by a group of people, and was elaborately planned and premeditated.
Jegatheesh, who had no lawyer, said the prosecutor cited past cases that involved violence, threats, or weapons, whereas he "did not even threaten anyone".
"I did not even say I want to kill anyone or kill the old man," the Channel quoted him as saying in the court.
He added that the gold was recovered with his help, and said he had decided to plead guilty after "deep consideration" and "deep thinking".
The driver of the getaway car, Veeramani, was sentenced earlier this month to three years' jail and six strokes of the cane for his role. The third accused, Sharavindran, will be sentenced at a later date.
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Tell US President Donald Trump to stop West Asia conflict: Owaisi to PM Modi
Hyderabad (PTI): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "break his silence" on the conflict in West Asia and ask US President Donald Trump to end the war.
Addressing a gathering here, he also asked the PM to provide a full account of the sinking of an Iranian ship, IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka by a US military submarine two days ago.
Taking strong exception to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent announcement regarding Indian oil imports, he said the BJP-RSS should give a strong response to the American official and assert that India would purchase oil according to its own will.
He accused the BJP-RSS combine of being "scared" of US President Donald Trump.
"This war should end. Prime Minister should break his silence. Take the phone and tell Trump to stop this tamasha. They (US) are not suffering any losses. Our citizens are suffering. Who is dying there? Indians are dying. You maintained silence over Gaza," he said.
Owaisi dismissed the argument that the Iranian vessel sank outside the Indian waters, saying it is important to realise that it occurred close to India.
"If a Chinese ship comes close to our nation, what would you do? You say that it was not in Indian waters. Water does not have borders. You see how close the enemy has come. It is the Constitutional responsibility of the Prime Minister to tell the country what happened. We are with America in Quad," he said.
Pointing to India's strategic agreements with the US, the AIMIM leader said the Iranian frigate had visited Visakhapatnam at the invitation of India, while America had refused to participate in the naval exercise there.
Highlighting that one crore Indian citizens work in the Gulf region, a widening war lead to job losses for Indian diaspora.
He alleged that Israel aims to create a 'Greater Israel', encompassing much of the Arab region.
"The evil eye of these oppressors extends up to the holy city of Madinah."
Responding to US Treasury Secretary's comments that America is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, Owaisi wondered if India truly is a sovereign country.
"Have you mortagaged India before US. Speak out BJP-RSS people. A (US)minister says you purchase for a month. Is this what we have secured freedom from the English that a white-skinned person says you purchase for a month ? But, they will not speak. They are scared of Trump," he said.
Quoting America's trade minister as saying that the US would not let India emerge like China, the AIMIM leader asked whether "India is a slave of America?"
He further questioned, "What is America's role in the progress of India?"
"BJP and RSS people are terrified of speaking against the white-skinned officials," he alleged.
He also hit out at the Centre for allegedly providing funds to a right-wing organisation to hold an event.
The organisation has openly favoured making India a 'Hindu Rashtra', "converting the religion of Muslims and throwing away 25 crore people," he alleged.
