Jail, caning for man who started fire outside police post
Wanting to express his anti-government views, a safety officer hatched a plan to burn down a police station to draw the public's attention to his grouses.
Sivaprakash Mailravanan later decided to start a blaze outside Kallang Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) instead and set fire to various items, including deodorant spray cans, causing 16 explosions between 11.13pm and 11.23pm on March 13 last year.
He also used an axe to smash glass panels at the police post, on the ground level of Block 105 Towner Road and spray-painted "ISIS" - an abbreviation for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terrorist group - on seven pillars in the vicinity.
The 31-year-old Singaporean was sentenced yesterday to 31/2 years' jail and nine strokes of the cane.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to one count each of vandalism, causing mischief by fire and being in possession of a weapon.
No one was injured during the rampage, but a district court heard that his offences caused some $20,000 in damage to the area and a nearby car.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Marcus Foo said Sivaprakash developed an interest in social affairs some time in 2009.
The DPP added: "Over years, the accused developed the view that various government policies in Singapore were unfair, favoured the well-to-do, and he perceived the authorities to be overly restrictive.
"Over time, the accused developed a deep resentment against the Singapore Government."
PROTEST
In January last year, Sivaprakash wanted to give "expression" to these negative sentiments and initially considered staging a protest and passing around fliers.
That, he later felt, would not create the effect he desired and he decided on a different way to express his anti-government views.
After sketching out his plan in a notebook, Sivaprakash went to Mustafa Centre in Little India in March last year.
He bought various items from the shopping centre, including trash bags, cans of deodorant spray, mattresses, an axe and a sledgehammer.
On March 13 last year, he arrived at the NPP at around 11pm and used an axe to smash its glass panels.
After that, he unloaded the items from a lorry, placed them near the NPP and started a fire. He also spray-painted "ISIS" on the pillars.
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