(UPDATED at 3pm, 5 Aug 2022)
A body, believed to be that of a man, was found in the canal near Geylang East Park this morning (5 Aug).
Police were at the scene around 9 am and have cordoned off the whole park. There were multiple police cars, an SCDF fire engine and several plain-clothed officers there when TheHomeGround Asia team arrived.
Also at the scene was the Gurkha contingent. The K9 unit arrived later, at around 11.15am.
According to witnesses at the scene, the man in the drain was half dressed, and there was a pool of blood near the canal where the body was found.
When TheHomeGround Asia reached out to the Singapore Police, it replied that Police investigations are confidential in nature and “we are unable to comment on the incident”.
Yet in a statement to the mainstream media, SPF said, “On 5 August 2022 at 7.38am, the Police were alerted to blood stains on the ground near Aljunied Avenue 5. Responding officers found a man lying motionless in the vicinity. A 45-year-old man was subsequently pronounced dead at scene by SCDF paramedics. Based on preliminary investigations, the Police do not suspect foul play. Police investigations are ongoing.”
Number of homicides in Singapore falling
The last time bodies were found in a canal was when a man allegedly killed his twin sons and dumped their bodies in a canal in Upper Bukit Timah in January this year.
According to Statista, the number of crimes committed in Singapore in 2021 for every 100,000 individuals was 847. This was a ten-year high, and mostly due to the increase in commercial crime cases. The number of violent and serious property crimes committed in Singapore for every 100,000 individuals was nine.
One reason for this is the harsh penalties for offenders, as well as a ban on weapons for those not in law enforcement. Singapore still carries out capital punishment for crimes such as murder and the illegal possession of firearms. They carry the death penalty.
The last time the Gurkha contingent was sent out was in the January 2022 case. They were spotted near the canal where the two boys were found, combing the site.
They were also deployed in 2019 when the Police mounted a massive manhunt in the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and nearby wooded areas after a student reported she was assaulted on campus. Investigations subsequently revealed that the student, 19, had provided false information and that no such assault had taken place.
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