My hands were dangling

SINGAPORE - He has not been able to fully make use of his hands since he was brutally attacked in May 2010.

Testifying in court on Tuesday, Indian national Egan Karuppaiah, 42, said that he can no longer easily lift things and can only eat by using a spoon.

Mr Egan was allegedly robbed and attacked by four Sarawakians, including Micheal Garing, 25 and Tony Imba, 34, at a footpath at Sims Way in Kallang some time between 11.30pm on May 29, 2010, and 12.46am the next day.

Micheal and Tony are on trial for the murder of Indian national Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, 41, at an open field at Kallang Road in the early hours of May 30.

Mr Egan, a former pipe fitter whose wife and two children are in India, is now jobless and staying at Nightingale Home along Braddell Road.

He arrived in Singapore in January 2010 and lived at MacPherson Road, before moving to new lodgings at Lorong 13 Geylang on May 25 that year.

But disaster struck just four days later, while he was walking around Kallang to familiarise himself with the neighbourhood.

After talking to his wife in India over the phone, he was walking on a path behind Kallang MRT station when he saw four men walking towards him.

They then deliberately blocked him from walking past them.

He said: "Immediately after that, one of them, who was standing in front of me, grabbed the front of my shirt collar with his right hand.

"After that, he pushed his hand hard against the front of my throat and at the same time pushed me backwards."

Mr Egan said he shouted at them to let him go but his cries fell on deaf ears.

The court heard that he was pushed further backwards while another man tried to reach into his shirt pocket for his wallet and mobile phone.

He tried to cover the pocket with his hands to protect his possessions while moving backwards, until his path was blocked by some bushes. The man trying to take his things suddenly punched him in the left eye, Mr Egan said.

He then felt both his hands "drop".

"Till now, I still do not know what happened," he said.

After grabbing his valuables, the men fled. Mr Egan looked down at his hands and saw them "dangling". He realised he was bleeding badly. He staggered towards the entrance of the MRT station to get help, but lost consciousness before he could reach it.

When he came to, he found himself in a hospital bed. He was told that he had sustained injuries to both hands and his left eye.

"I am not able to recognise any of (the men) because it happened too fast... I did not see what weapon was used... or how my hands were injured," he told the court.

Mr Egan was discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on June 8, 2010.

Kovan double-murder suspect involved

The policeman accused of the Kovan double murder was the investigation officer of the Kallang slashing case.

The New Paper understands that Iskandar Rahmat will not be testifying in the murder trial of Micheal Garing, 25, and Tony Imba, 34, the two Sarawakians accused of the murder of Indian national Shanmuganathan Dillidurai in 2010.

Iskandar, 34, is accused of murdering car workshop owner Tan Boon Sin, 66, and his businessman son Tan Chee Heong, 42, at a house in Hillside Drive near Yio Chu Kang Road on July 10.

His next pre-trial conference is expected to be held on Jan 21.

'What is my mistake?'

An assailant hit his head with a brick while another slashed him several times with a parang.

Cleaner Sandeep Singh, 27, initially thought the attack was due to a case of mistaken identity.

But he knows better now.

Sarawakians Micheal Garing, 25 and Tony Imba, 34, who are on trial for murdering another victim, allegedly assaulted and robbed him at a playground near Block 44, Sims Drive, some time between 11pm on May 29, 2010 and 12.13am the next day.

The court heard that Mr Singh had earlier contacted a friend who lived in that block as he wanted to spend the night there.

But before going up to the unit, he decided to phone his younger brother in India from the playground.

After he ended the conversation, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his head as though he had been hit with "something very hard".

He was knocked forward and was about to get up when he was hit again on the head repeatedly.

"I thought that my... friends who were staying at the block might have had some trouble with the people there and the people might have mistaken me for (them).

"I just kept saying in English, 'What is my mistake?'," Mr Singh said.

He was not sure how many people had assaulted him but said that he was attacked from all directions.

He managed to fight his way to a lift landing where the attack stopped.

Only then did he realise that he was bleeding badly from his head and left hand.

Collapsed

He managed to make his way up to his friend's unit, where he collapsed.

Mr Singh said he felt giddy and did not know what happened afterwards.

He woke up later and found himself in hospital with his head and left hand bandaged.

"I found out that I had undergone an operation for the injuries on my head, left hand and also my back," he said.

Mr Singh, who was discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on June 11, 2010, said he found his mobile phone and wallet missing while he was warded there.

He said none of his attackers spoke to him even when he asked them what his mistake was.

He also could not see their faces because "I was trying to cover my head and face and also to escape".

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