SINGAPORE – Five men linked to a 2023 fatal brawl around Concorde Hotel in Orchard Road have admitted in court that they rained blows on a former bouncer before another member of their group allegedly killed him.
Three of the men – Sridharan Elangovan, 30; Manojkumar Velayanatham, 32; and Sashikumar Pakirsamy, 34 – were members of the same secret society at the time.
The other two men are Puthenvilla Keith Peter, 26, and Raja Rishi, 28.
On Feb 13, all five Singaporeans pleaded guilty to one count of rioting each.
A sixth man, Asvain Pachan Pillai Sukumaran, 30, was earlier handed a murder charge after he allegedly killed the former bouncer, Mr Mohammad Isrrat Mohd Ismail, 29. His case is pending.
Deputy public prosecutors Kathy Chu and Brian Tan stated in court documents that the six men and other members of the rioting group went to Club Rumours in Concorde Hotel & Shopping Mall in the wee hours of Aug 20, 2023.
At around 4.45am, two of its former bouncers – Mr Isrrat and Muhammad Shahrulnizam Osman – arrived there as Mr Isrrat wanted to pass his wedding invitation cards to its employees.
The DPPs said both men were members of another secret society.
The club’s chief bouncer then noticed that men from the rioting group, which included members of another gang, were in the vicinity.
He alerted his colleagues and several men, including Shahrulnizam and Mr Isrrat, armed themselves with knives.
Club Rumours closed at around 6am, prompting patrons to leave and head to an exit towards Kramat Lane.
Mr Isrrat and Shahrulnizam yelled vulgarities at the men in the rioting group. Members of the group then confronted the pair.
A scuffle broke out and Shahrulnizam used a knife to slash three men. Shahrulnizam and Mr Isrrat ran off, pursued by the rioting group.
The DPPs said Mr Isrrat spotted a friend of the rioting group, stabbed the man’s forehead and fled.
Meanwhile, Shahrulnizam, who was ahead of Mr Isrrat, headed to a corridor outside Club Rumours and handed the knife to one of its bouncers.
When Shahrulnizam turned back, he saw the rioting group running after Mr Isrrat.
Manojkumar, Sridharan, Sashikumar, Puthenvilla and Raja surrounded Mr Isrrat and rained blows on him.
Mr Isrrat ran away but Manojkumar, Puthenvilla and Raja caught up with the man and kicked him.
Mr Isrrat managed to get away and the group chased him. His knife fell to the ground when one of its members pushed him.
Five men, including Raja, Manojkumar and Sridharan, then kicked Mr Isrrat.
The prosecutors said: “Asvain picked up the small knife (Mr Isrrat) had dropped and stabbed (him) with it multiple times.”
After that, Sridharan landed one more kick on Mr Isrrat who was bleeding profusely.
The group left the vicinity and the staff of Club Rumours called for an ambulance. Mr Isrrat was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he was pronounced dead at around 7am.
On Feb 13, the DPPs urged the court to sentence Manojkumar, Sridharan, Sashikumar, Puthenvilla and Raja to up to three years’ jail each with caning.
They also said that Manojkumar, Sridharan and Sashikumar were repeat offenders.
Among other things, Manojkumar was fined $3,000 in 2019 for assault and, in 2022, Sridharan was fined $4,500 for voluntarily causing hurt.
In 2014, Sashikumar was fined $3,000 for using threatening words on a public servant.
All five men will be sentenced on Feb 25.
In December 2024, Shahrulnizam, then 31, was sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail, and ordered to receive 12 strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to offences including to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
- Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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