Two Little India rioters jailed for more than two years each

TWO Indian nationals working here were yesterday sentenced to more than two years' jail for their roles in the Little India riot on Dec 8, 2013.

This leaves just one more person, out of the 25 people charged over the incident, to be dealt with by the courts.

Mohan Rajendran, 26, and Sivaraman Sathiyamoorthy, 27, received 27 months and 25 months' imprisonment respectively.

They had earlier pleaded guilty to being members of unlawful assemblies designed to "commit mischief" against the bus which triggered the riot after a man was knocked down and died.

Both men had become involved in the riot while returning to their dormitories after drinks with friends, and ended up attacking the bus at different times.

At about 9.50pm that day, Sivaraman threw a stone and a dustbin at the bus.

He gestured violently at the bus timekeeper, who was in the vehicle, and also threw an umbrella and another unidentified item through a broken window.

Despite knowing the timekeeper and others were inside the bus seeking refuge, he helped an unidentified member of the crowd to climb in, the court heard.

The timekeeper was assaulted and suffered several injuries.

Sivaraman's friend, Moorthy Kabildev, 25, was with him at the time and had also thrown projectiles at the bus.

Moorthy was sentenced to two years in jail last June.

At around 10.50pm, Mohan tried to topple the bus by pushing it, and kicked it twice. He then threw several items at it, including a plastic crate.

Besides encouraging others to take part in the attack, he also tried to set alight a piece of cardboard, and threw it into the bus.

Mohan later again kicked the bus and tried to topple it.

Mohan and Sivaraman are the 23rd and 24th men to be dealt with over the riot.

They could each have been jailed for up to seven years and caned for rioting.

Trial dates have been fixed in April for the last accused, 29-year-old Arun Kaliamurthy.

pohian@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 11, 2015.
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