The pink turban that Sheikh Md Razan, 29, used as a part of his disguise in an attempt to derail police’s efforts to trace the suspect of an attempted robbery of a pawn shop in Boon Lay became the key object that lead to his identification.
Razan, a Bangladeshi national who has been overstaying in Singapore since the end of last year, was arrested by the police at around 7pm on Wednesday along Muscat Street, where he resides.
The former construction worker was identified through a backpack found by a resident, reportedly a full-time national serviceman (NSF), of the HDB flat he had fled to in Jurong West, where he had discarded his clothing and pink turban, behind potted plants outside a particular unit.
Additionally, police were able to identify Razan from police cameras at the HDB flat with the assistance of a resident.
Razan was instructed to re-enact his alleged crime by the police yesterday afternoon at the ValueMax pawn shop, wearing the same clothing he was wearing when he had purportedly committed the failed robbery.
He then led the police down a narrow passage, which took approximately a one-minute walk from ValueMax.
Razan then made the claim that he had disposed of the imitation gun into the bin.
He added that he had assembled the gun himself using plastic parts.
It was reported that a police officer had lifted the bin’s cover in search of the gun. However, the gun was not found. Police investigations are currently ongoing regarding the missing gun.
Razan was then taken away in a police vehicle.
Should Razan be found guilty of attempted armed robbery, he can be jailed between two to seven years, and may be given twelve strokes of caning.
Separately, he may sentenced to ten years’ jail and three strokes of the cane should he be found guilty of exhibiting an imitation firearm when committing a scheduled offence.
At 4.30pm on 28 July, it was alleged that Razan had barged into the pawn shop with a knife and an imitation gun made of plastic.
Razan had then purportedly threatened to blow up the shop using an explosive device, before tossing the supposed device onto the counter and fleeing the crime scene empty-handed.
The process of tracking down Razan involved the efforts of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Intelligence Department, Special Operations Command and the six Police Land Divisions.
There were no injuries or fatalities reported following the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigation & Intelligence) concurrent Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Florence Chua said that Razan “went to great lengths to conceal his identity” and to “cover his tracks to evade detection and arrest”.
She added that the Razan’s case “required meticulous police work and the combined and coordinated efforts of officers from various SPF units”, highlighting that the SPF has been “working tirelessly round the clock to pursue all available leads to successfully arrest the man”.
“The man had displayed a blatant disregard of the law in Singapore,” said Ms Chua.
Concluding with a stern warning, Ms Chua said that “the Police will spare no effort in pursuing such criminals and dealing with them in accordance with the law.”
