3 men arrested after confrontation involving 20 police officers

What started as a body search of around 10 men by the police turned violent, leading to the deployment of nine police cars to the scene, and the subsequent arrest of three people.

Chinese evening paper Shin Min Daily News reported Sunday (Sept 27) that the incident happened at 9am at an Outram coffeeshop near Block 5 Jalan Minyak.

An eyewitness, Mr Tan, 61, told Shin Min Daily News that the atmosphere was tense. The Outram resident was heading towards the coffee shop when he saw the nine police cars parked along the road.

The group of men, who were seated near the coffee shop, were surrounded by police officers.

According to Shin Min Daily News, eyewitnesses said that one of the men turned violent as the police tried to arrest him, and was pinned by around five police officers to the table.

The men, aged between their twenties to forties, and a young woman, were questioned by the police.

The evening daily added that most of the men were heavily tattooed. One of them also had tattoos on his face.

A resident, 57-year-old homemaker Madam Zhen, recognised some of them to be her neighbours.

The police confirmed that they received a tip-off at 8.21am about the group of men.

After conducting a body search, dangerous weapons like knives were found on three men. The three men then produced falsified documents and turned violent on the police, leading to their arrest.

Police investigations are ongoing.