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A BUS driver was charged on Monday with three counts of giving false information to the police concerning Mas Selamat Kastari, the fugitive Jemaah Islamiah leader.
After the charges were read to him in Mandarin, Ng Hang Hai, 49, said he wished to plead guilty.
But District Judge May Mesenas adjourned the case to Friday for the matter to be dealt with.
Ng, who was unrepresented, is said to have called 999 from his home in Bedok Reservoir Road on March 1, saying he saw the JI leader board a Trans-Island Bus and alight along Lentor Avenue at about 8.30pm on Feb 27.
He knew that the false information given would cause police resources to be sent to search for the detainee who escaped hours earlier from the Whitley Road Detention Centre.
The second charge states that 20 minutes later, he made another call claiming that he saw Mas Selamat come out from the Old Police Academy and board Service No 851 and alight along Lentor Avenue on Feb 27, which he knew was false.
He is also said to have lied to Station Inspector Tan Boon Huat of Criminal Investigation Department that evening that he saw Mas Selamat ride pillion on a motorcycle and alight at a bus stop along Thomson Road outside the Singapore Polo Club on Feb 27 at about 8.15pm.
As a result of his tip-off, police conducted an investigation against the motorcycle owner, Mr Hong Bok Leng.
A police statement last Saturday said the suspect gave false information in a bid to get the rewards being offered by various private bodies and individuals for the arrest of the escaped JI detainee as well as to implicate the motorcyclist who had a run-in with the suspect over a road rage incident on Feb 27.
Ng is released on $10,000 bail.
He faces a maximum jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to $5,000 or both on each charge of giving false information to a public servant.
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