Suspect shot by police in Balestier Road raid charged with assaulting officer, cheating

• Prakash Mathivanan, 36, allegedly attacked a policeman before trying to snatch another officer’s revolver
• He is in stable condition after being shot in the abdomen
• The court heard that he had been sentenced previously for a series of scams
• His girlfriend, Malani Naidu Prabhakar Naidu, and another man, Nikhil M Durgude, were also charged

SINGAPORE — A 36-year-old man who was shot during a raid at a Balestier Road condominium unit on Thursday morning was charged on Friday (Nov 6), along with his girlfriend and a 22-year-old man.

Prakash Mathivanan had allegedly attacked a policeman and tried to snatch another officer’s revolver during an anti-scam raid.

The officer whom he tried to snatch the revolver from discharged a round in his abdomen, the police said on Thursday.

Prakash was taken to a hospital in a conscious state. He is now in a stable condition.

He was charged in hospital with one count each of cheating and voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant. 

The 22-year-old — Nikhil M Durgude — was also charged on Friday with assaulting a public servant.

Both men are accused of punching and kicking an officer, who sustained injuries to his face and arms. 

The officer who discharged the weapon suffered injuries on his hands and lips, the police previously said.

Prakash’s girlfriend, 33-year-old Malani Naidu Prabhakar Naidu, was also charged with one count of cheating.

Both Prakash and Malani are accused of cheating Singtel into delivering seven iPhone 11 Pro Max handsets to one Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Rahman on Oct 14. Firdaus was charged on Thursday with one count of cheating.

They allegedly did this by tricking the telco into believing they were someone called Solomon Thomas Fernandez who intended to purchase the phones.

All three accused individuals have had previous brushes with the law, with Nikhil already facing several charges. 

He was out on bail of S$150,000 when he was arrested on Thursday.

Nikhil and Malani were ordered to be remanded for further investigations. All three will return to court on Nov 13.

When Nikhil appeared in court through a video-link, he told District Judge Tan Jen-Tse that the police officers had switched off the lights while “fighting with my friend”, referring to Prakash. 

He said he remembered the gun being pointed at himself.

He also said that he was not involved in any cheating offence and did not kick and punch the officer.

A police prosecutor asked for him to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric observation, saying that he showed symptoms of depression after being arrested.

The judge rejected the application as there was insufficient evidence in the IMH report that Nikhil showed other types of unusual behaviour.

Those convicted of causing hurt to a public servant can be jailed up to 15 years, and fined or caned.

Cheating carries a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine.

WHAT HAPPENED

The police said that the raid took place after 1am on Thursday morning.

Four suspects — Prakash, Nikhil, Malani and Nikhil’s girlfriend — were in the unit when the policemen entered.

Prakash allegedly lunged suddenly at one of the officers and attacked him repeatedly.

A second officer immediately warned Prakash to stop but he did not. 

Instead, he tried to snatch the revolver from the second officer.

The policeman shot Prakash, but despite being shot, he tried to snatch the weapon again, the police said in a press conference on Thursday.

Backup officers then arrived and arrested all four of them.

Three others were also arrested in separate raids related to the series of cheating cases: An 18-year-old male, an 18-year-old female and a 32-year-old man.

The syndicated scams allegedly involved the misuse of victims’ particulars in order to cheat Singtel.

The police seized about S$20,000 in suspected criminal proceeds from the Balestier Road unit, as well as drugs and various drug paraphernalia.

Police investigations are ongoing and the Central Narcotics Bureau is also investigating the suspects’ drug activities.

PREVIOUS OFFENCES

In 2018, Prakash and Malani were sentenced to jail for a series of investment, rental and e-commerce scams. 

Both were first arrested in January 2017, then absconded and re-offended while out on police bail.

Malani pleaded guilty to drug consumption and swindling S$45,000 from more than 20 victims, among other offences. She was sentenced to five years’ jail.

Prakash was sentenced to two years and 10 months’ jail. He, Malani and a third man had conspired to get credit card information from third parties in order to buy items and sell them for cash.

His appeal against the sentence was dismissed in January last year. 

Besides that, he faces about 50 more pending charges. They similarly include cheating, possession and consumption of a controlled drug and theft.

As for Nikhil, he faces another 22 charges.

His pending charges include breaching conditions while under a police supervision order, rioting, trafficking in cannabis, and possessing drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamine.