Indian-origin student jailed for gold bar theft in Singapore

Singapore, Aug 2: A 22-year-old Indian-origin student has been jailed for four months in Singapore for stealing four gold bars worth 14,775 dollars from a shop here. Sivasakthi Kumanaran Nagarajan, who faced a jail term of seven years and a fine, pleaded guilty yesterday to the theft on July 4, The Straits Times reported today.

Nagarajan and two of his compatriots identified the shop in a suburb housing estate to steal the gold bars last month. One of his compatriots, 19-year-old Vairavan Venkatesh, had allegedly posed as a customer and ran off with the gold bars after pretending to inspect them. Venkatesh, a full time National Serviceman, told a sales assistant in the shop that his father owned a gold smith shop back home in India.

Foreman Sastha Pillay, the third partner in the crime, sold the loot and shared the money with his two friends. Cases against Sastha, 29, and Venkatesh are pending.

PTI