SINGAPORE: A 29-year-old man was charged with murder on Tuesday (Aug 22), after a brawl that broke out at the Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall in Orchard Road ended with one man dead.
Another six men were charged with rioting with deadly weapons, and a seventh was given a charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
According to charge sheets, Asvain Pachan Pillai Sukumaran is accused of committing murder by causing the death of Mr Mohammad Isrrat Mohd Ismail at about 6.05am on Aug 20, at the Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall.
Asvain, a Singaporean, appeared calm as he listened to the proceedings.
The six men who were charged with rioting while armed with a deadly weapon are: 32-year-old Arun Kaliaperumal, 24-year-old Kavind Raj Kannan, 31-year-old Manojkumar Velayanatham, 28-year-old Sridharan Elangovan, 24-year-old Sharvin Jay Nair and 27-year-old Visnu Suriamurthi.
The seventh man, Muhammad Shahrulnizam Osman, 30, was charged with voluntarily causing hurt by using a bread knife with a 30cm-long blade to slash Visnu Suriamurthi.
According to the charge sheet, Visnu suffered injuries to his chest. Visnu was charged in hospital via the Court Crime Registry Chambers.
The police prosecutor asked for the accused to be remanded for investigations, saying that the investigating officers need to take them out for scene revisits, raids, or to recover any exhibits.
The men were remanded and will return to court next week.
The police said in an earlier statement that the fight had broken out due to a dispute, and that all those involved knew each other.
Weapons including two pen-knives and a bread knife were seized by the police.
On top of the eight who were charged today, another three men linked to the incident were charged on Monday with rioting while armed with deadly weapons.
If convicted of murder, Asvain could be sentenced to death.
The penalty for rioting while armed with a deadly weapon is a jail term of up to 10 years and caning.
The penalty for voluntarily causing hurt with a cutting instrument is a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, caning, or any combination of these punishments.