Singapore police is looking for a man, who allegedly attempted to rob a pawnshop in Boon Lay on Saturday, July 28 by threatening employees using a knife and a gun, which appeared to be fake.
Police said that the incident took place in a pawnshop located outside the Boon Lay MRT station at around 4.30 pm Saturday. The witnesses told that the man entered the shop while wearing a Punjabi turban and threatened the staff to hand over the cash and jewellery by using a knife and a fake gun.
But, when the staff refused to fulfil his demands the alleged robber said that he has an object that he claimed was an explosive device and could blow that place instantly. As mention in a Facebook post by the Singapore Police Force, when the man saw that the staff was not cooperating with him, he threw that alleged explosive device and ran away from the shop without taking anything.
A staff immediately threw that device out of the shop and called the police for their help. When the officers reached the location and analyzed the device, they came to know that the object only contained some electrical components. The social media post clarified that none of the staff was found injured. Due to this incident, an exit at the MRT station was temporarily closed when the officers were checking the alleged explosive.
The post also included a screenshot of the CCTV footage, where the man could be visible while wearing a pink Punjabi turban, blue jacket, brown pants and carrying a backpack. Police also mentioned that the man is about 1.75m tall.
For security reasons, at around 5 pm police also secured an area between the MRT station and the nearby Jurong Point shopping mall. They also asked people to stay away from the incident spot and directed MRT staff to stop commuters from entering the station for a while.
Later, in a different Facebook post police said that the train service was not affected due to the failed robbery incident but, a commuter stated that when he boarded the East-West Line train it skipped Boon Lay MRT station and directly went to the Joo Koon station at around 5 pm on Saturday evening.
Police mentioned that they investigating this case under Penal Code Section 4(A) of the Arms Offences Act. This law states that "subject to any exception referred to in Chapter IV of the Penal Code which may be applicable (other than section 95), any person who uses or attempts to use any arm at the time of his committing or attempting to commit any scheduled offence shall, whether or not he has any intention to cause physical injury to any person or property, be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with death."
The officers also asked the local residents to provide their help to find the alleged criminal. They mentioned in their post that if anyone has any information about that unknown man, then they can contact the police via their hotline number 1800-255-0000 or submit the information at the online portal www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. However, the post also made it clear that the details about the informer will be kept a secret to protect them.
