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The mastermind behind the daring daylight robbery, 28-year-old M. Jegatheesh, targeted a jewelry store in Ang Mo Kio because the owners were elderly and he thought it did not have an alarm system.
The private rental driver tied up two others, including a runaway driver, and tried to avoid detection by using parking garages without electronic gates.
He was also wearing a costume.
The trio acquired $ 119,000 worth of jewelry, but were arrested within 36 hours.
Yesterday, Jegatheesh was jailed for three years and three months and received six strokes of the baton after pleading guilty, midway through a trial, to planning the robbery.
Two other charges were considered.
One accomplice, Sharavindran Suppiah, 32, admitted to having dishonestly received stolen property. He faces another 31 charges for various crimes and will be sentenced today.
[[nid:480086]]The driver of the escape, Veeramani Subran Das, 37, was previously imprisoned for three years and received six strokes of the baton.
Jegatheesh told the two men on August 13 last year that he intended to rob Hock Cheong Jade and jewelry in the 574 block of 10 Ang Mo Kio avenue.
He told Veeramani, who was also a private rental driver at the time, that he would pay him to be the leak driver and to bring the loot to Sharavindran, who was supposed to help sell it. The next day, Jegatheesh met Veeramani in a parking lot near Block 521 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 at 2:40 p.m.
He put on a blue long-sleeved shirt and a hoodie, gloves, and a helmet, and told Veeramani to drive to another nearby parking lot and wait for him there.
Entering the store at around 4 PM, Jegatheesh tried to lower the blind at the entrance, but gave up because it got stuck.
He yelled at the store owners Ling Hew Kwong, 70, and his brother Leng Yew Weng, 75, and jumped on the counter.
[[nid:459133]]She opened the cabinets and packed valuables, including gold necklaces, bracelets, and pendants, into a canvas bag.
The store owners did not confront him because they feared injury, but they were able to press a hidden alarm button to notify an outside security company.
Mr. Ling’s cries for help also alerted two nearby people, and one of them called the police.
Jegatheesh and Veeramani escaped and the latter met with Sharavindran that same day.
Unable to sell the loot, Sharavindran hid the items inside a toilet cistern on a floor in an abandoned block in Dakota Crescent. The police recovered all the stolen jewelry.
This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission is required for reproduction.
