3 jailed for robbing man after extortion bid

3 jailed for robbing man after extortion bid

A group of five devised a plan to extort money from a Bangladeshi national who had been winning money at an illegal gambling stall, a court heard yesterday.

When it did not pan out, they robbed him instead.

Yesterday, one of the five was jailed for four years and given 12 strokes of the cane. Two others were sentenced on Wednesday.

On July 31 last year, the five tried to extort money from Mr Shohedul Altaf Shikder, 33, by accusing him of molesting a woman in the group, Nur Hartini Abdul Rahim, 26, in a backlane of Geylang Road. Nur Hartini and three others - Hoo Wee Yong, 27, Mohd Razlee Abdul Rahman, 33, and Abdul Qaiyum Kamijan, 24 - had stopped by the stall to observe the gamblers, including the victim.

Hoo and Qaiyum joined in to gamble. Qaiyum spoke to fellow gambler Goh Soon Kim, 30, as both of them were losing money.

When the five saw that the victim was winning, they hatched a plan to extort money from him.

When the victim left several hours later, Goh and his accomplices followed him and accused him of outraging the modesty of Nur Hartini. They demanded money from him to settle the matter.

But the victim denied the allegation and refused to hand over money. He was punched and slapped - leading to temporary loss of hearing in his left ear.

Out of fear, he gave them $250. The five shared this equally and police later recovered $150.

Yesterday, Goh was sentenced to four years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for robbery and two counts of theft. He has previous convictions for a variety of offences dating from 2005.

Hoo and Nur Hartini, who is pregnant, were dealt with in another court on Wednesday. Hoo was given the minimum three years and 12 cane strokes for robbery while Nur Hartini was sentenced to three years. She had admitted to taking methamphetamine and was given a concurrent sentence of eight months' jail.


This article was first published on February 13, 2015.
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