20-year-old Singaporean charged with murder of jogger in Punggol
A 20-year-old Singaporean man was charged in court yesterday with the murder of a 38-year-old man in Punggol on May 10.
Surajsrikan Diwakar Mani Tripathi appeared in court via video conferencing and is accused of murdering Mr Tay Rui Hao near a bus stop in Punggol Field Road at 11:08pm that day, The Straits Times reported.
Surajsrikan was arrested on Saturday at 2.45am, said the police in a press release issued later that day, following round-the-clock investigations, extensive ground enquiries, and with the help of closed-circuit television footage.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Surajsrikan and Mr Tay did not know each other and the accused is believed to have acted alone.
FACES DEATH PENALTY
Surajsrikan will return to court on June 5 and is being remanded at Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre.
Any individual convicted of murder will face the death penalty.
Mr Tay was believed to have been jogging when he was allegedly stabbed by the accused.
A resident living near the scene of the alleged murder had called the police after he heard Mr Tay's cries.
He saw Mr Tay kneeling and then standing up, before walking to the back of the bus stop and collapsing onto a grass patch.
Mr Tay was taken to Sengkang General Hospital with multiple stab wounds and later died from his injuries.
He is believed to be married and lived close to where he collapsed.
According to Mr Tay's social media posts, he worked in the local branch of a sportswear company.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Tay's wife thanked the police for their efforts and the public for their support.
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