Man arrested for Whampoa River murder: Forensic science used to identify body

SINGAPORE- Her head and hands are still missing, but police have managed to identify the woman whose headless body was found in the Whampoa River near McNair Road last Thursday.

They have also arrested a 25-year-old male Indian national in connection with the murder.

The body was identified as that of Madam Jasvinder Kaur, a 33-year-old Indian national who was here on a dependant's pass and worked as a beautician.

Police are now looking for her husband, Mr Harvinder Singh, also 33, to help their investigations into the murder.

Mr Singh had left Singapore through Woodlands Checkpoint on a bus about half an hour before his wife's body was found, police said in a press briefing yesterday.

The director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Deputy Commissioner of Police Hoong Wee Teck, said: "This is a serious case which had attracted a lot of public attention. The circumstances surrounding this case had posed a unique challenge to the police at the onset of investigations."

As the body was headless and both hands were severed at the wrists, this made identification of the woman difficult.

About 30 officers from the CID's A Division searched through five tonnes of rubbish at the Tuas incineration plant for three hours that day for the head and hands. But their efforts were in vain.

The plant, which collects refuse from the Whampoa area and processes about 3,000 tonnes of material a day, is the largest of four incineration plants in Singapore.

The missing body parts have yet to be found, but that did not prevent police from using forensic evidence to identify Madam Kaur.

They declined to go into details on the sort of evidence used, except to say that DNA, fingerprints and close-circuit television footage are part of forensic science.

Madam Kaur and her husband lived at Balestier Road, near the Whampoa River.

Mr Singh, a work permit holder from India, worked as a senior logistics coordinator after coming to Singapore in February. His wife joined him here in September.

Police said there were no reports of any quarrels between them. The suspect, a friend of Mr Singh, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon at his workplace at the Pan-I Complex, a six-storey industrial building at Sims Drive.

The New Paper spoke to more than 10 people who work there yesterday, but they had not seen anything unusual on Wednesday and were not aware of the arrest. A man who declined to be named said: "This place is very big with many companies inside. Lots of people go in and out every day. I didn't see any police officers coming in that day."

Police said the suspect came here to work as a construction worker in September 2010, but his work permit was cancelled after a conflict with his employer.

At the time of his arrest, he was working as a forklift driver on a Special Pass due to the Ministry of Manpower's investigation into his work conflict.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Adrian Quek said the suspect was caught by surprise and did not resist arrest.

The man is expected to be charged with murder in court today. If convicted, he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment with caning.

Police said they had sought the assistance of their counterparts in neighbouring countries to trace Mr Singh's whereabouts.

Anyone with information on Mr Singh can contact the police at 1800-255-0000, or submit the information online at www.spf.gov.sg/CrimeStopper. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

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