The accused officer also admitted that he was unrelated to harassment. (representative)
Singapore:
A narcotics officer of Indian descent in Singapore was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for being under the influence of alcohol and assaulting a suspected drug offender to force a confession, media reported.
Vengedesh Raj Nainar Nagarajan, who has been suspended since October 2019, was also ordered to pay the Malaysian victim, Sivabalan Kanniappan, then 34, compensation of SGD 4,500 (USD XXX) for his pain and suffering, The Straits Times reported.
District judge Salina Ishak in March this year found Nagarajan, now 35, guilty on three counts of voluntarily inflicting pain to extract a confession from India’s Sivabalan.
Deputy District Attorney Dillon Kok said in his submissions that Nagarajan, the indicted Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), “constantly displayed a disregard for the integrity of the law enforcement task he was entrusted with”.
Kok said the officer showed up at work that day with alcoholic breath.
Nagarajan also admitted on Friday that he made an unrelated charge of harassment — using abusive words against a police officer — and was fined SGD 4,000.
However, Nagarajan had separately committed the offenses against Sivabalan after he was found with drugs at Woodlands Checkpoint in 2017.
Sivabalan has since been convicted of drug offenses and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with 13 strokes of the cane.
Nagarajan’s violations came to light after doctors examined Sivabalan, who had complained of pain in parts of his body, including his left lower ribs, and revealed that he had been assaulted.
The court ruled on Friday that Nagarajan must spend three weeks behind bars if he is unable to pay SGD 4,500 in damages.
It added that the officer of Indian origin would spend another 10 days behind bars if he failed to pay the SGD 4,000 fine. Nagarajan will start serving his sentence next month.
For each count of voluntarily inflicting pain to extract a confession, an offender could face up to seven years in prison and a fine or caning.
