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Jean Iau
The times of the strait
November 23, 2020
The trial of a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officer who was accused of assaulting a man multiple times to obtain a drug confession began on Monday (November 23).
The officer, 33-year-old Vengedesh Raj Nainar Nagarajan, denied allegations of voluntarily causing harm to obtain a confession from Malaysian Sivabalan Kanniappan in 2017 after he was found with drugs at the Woodlands checkpoint.
Vengedesh has been suspended from service since October 5 last year.
On Monday, Deputy Prosecutor Han Ming Kuang said Vengedesh, then a CNB corporal, was called in for additional support around 5 a.m. on January 2, 2017.
He allegedly took Sivabalan, 34, into the bathroom at Woodlands Checkpoint CNB Block B’s third floor office on three separate occasions to obtain a confession.
The prosecution called three policemen as witnesses to appear Monday. One participated in the filing of the first complaint against Vengedesh, while the other two were the investigating officers who handled the case.
The prosecution plans to call 15 other witnesses, including CNB and police officers, and relies on closed circuit television (CCTV) footage, photographs and diagrams from the CNB Woodlands office and statements from Vengedesh, among other evidence to defend its case.
Vengedesh is represented by attorney Peter Fernando.
The court heard that Sivabalan was convicted of drug offenses and is serving a 15-year prison sentence. He was also sentenced to 13 strokes of the baton.
According to court documents, between 5.58 a.m. and 6.14 a.m. on January 2, 2017, Vengedesh allegedly kicked, hit and slapped Sivabalan into confessing that he knew about a drug package that was found in his waterproof bag.
Between 8.35am and 8.43am, Vengedesh is said to have kicked and punched him to make him confess that the drug package contained heroin.
The third assault is said to have taken place between 9.28am and 9.30am for Sivabalan to confess that he knew of a second package of drugs.
If convicted of the crime, Vengedesh can be jailed for up to seven years and fined or punished for each count.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
