SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of Friday (Jun 7), hours after he called the police and provided false information, wasting public resources that were deployed to investigate the supposed threat.
The man had contacted the police at about 8.30pm on Thursday, claiming that a gun was kept under the bonnet of a particular taxi.
“He added that the taxi would enter Singapore at one of the land checkpoints,” said the police, adding that the caller did not provide his full particulars and chose to remain anonymous.
Acting on the information provided by the caller, the police coordinated with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to locate the taxi in question.
“The taxi was eventually found and stopped at Woodlands Checkpoint,” said the police.
The police concluded that the information provided by the caller was false after a thorough check of the vehicle.
Through follow-up investigations, the police established the identity of the man and arrested him on Friday at about 1.10am.
The man will be charged in court on Saturday with communicating false information of a harmful thing. Those found guilty face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both.
The police said all security threats are treated seriously and that the authorities will not hesitate to take action against those who cause public alarm with false threats.
“Beyond the fear and inconvenience caused to other members of the public, the making of false threats comes at a cost of public resources that have to be deployed to deal with the incident.”