Police team awarded for arresting serial molester

For five days, the police officers staked out four locations looking for a man who had molested at least six schoolgirls on overhead bridges in two weeks.

When they finally caught the man, Aldrin Illias, 39, they were still unsure if he was the molester, until they spotted something unusual: He had masking tape around his fingers.

The team from Ang Mo Kio Police Division finally found out the man had tried to use the tape to keep his fingerprints from appearing on the girls' bodies.

His victims were between 10 and 15 years old.

Yesterday, the officers were awarded the Team Commendation Award for their work in arresting the molester.

They were presented with the award at the Commissioner of Police's Commendation Ceremony 2018 by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Hoong Wee Teck.

The ceremony was held at the Senior Police Officers' Mess.

Speaking about the serial molester, Senior Investigation Officer Sri Ganesh Rajaram, 38, of Ang Mo Kio Police Division, said: "He really did his homework. He would change his clothes to avoid detection and even applied masking tape on his fingers.

"He would also walk around the perimeter of the estate to ensure that he would not be caught on police cameras and closed-circuit television."

Aldrin was sentenced to three years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane on April 6.

SIO Ganesh and Sergeant Muhammed Adhwa Haziq,25, of the Serangoon Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) staked out an overhead bridge in Anchorvale Road and eventually arrested Aldrin.

The other two members representing the team were Deputy Superintendent Low Jiing Haur, 42, chief investigation officer from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division, and Assistant Superintendent Iskandar Abdul Kadir, 35, of Sengkang NPC.

The team had help from some 80 other police officers from different neighbourhood police centres.

SENSE OF SATISFACTION

After getting the award, SIO Ganesh said the sense of satisfaction came earlier, when they arrested Aldrin.

"We celebrated like we had just got a promotion. We're glad to have to have taken him off the streets," he said.

Also commended yesterday was Sergeant Abdul Rahman Mohamed Ali, one of the 11 recipients of the High Commendation Awards.

He was stationed alone at the Tampines East Neighbourhood Police Post on Dec 20 last year when someone informed him that a maid was attempting suicide one block away.

The 27-year-old said he immediately locked up the police post and ran straight to the block. There, he saw a large crowd and the maid perched on the bamboo poles outside the kitchen windows of her employer's fifth-storey unit.

The police officer said: "I would be wasting time if I called for backup."

Instead, the sergeant pulled the maid in with the help of a member of the public.

Sergeant Rahman said:"All that was running through my mind was that I needed to save her life."