Indian worker kills compatriot with wooden plank on New Year’s Day in Singapore

An Indian man has been arrested in Singapore for allegedly killing a compatriot with a wooden plank embedded with nails following a dispute on New Year’s Day, a media report said on Sunday.

Paneer Vetrivel, 26, is alleged to have hit Rajendran Shanmugasundran, 37, with the plank near 20 Woodlands Industrial Park E1 between 1am and 1.25am on January 1, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

He was charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt by a dangerous weapon at a migrant workers’ dormitory in a special sitting of the Criminal Mentions Court on Sunday.

The report said Paneer faces a charge of fatally attacking the man with a wooden plank embedded with nails on New Year’s Day.

If convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon, he can be jailed for life and caned, or jailed for up to 15 years, caned and fined, it said.

The police said that they were involved in a dispute at the dormitory in Woodlands Industrial Park.

Officers were alerted to the fight at about 1.25am and found Rajendran lying motionless on the ground with head injuries. He was rushed to hospital where he later died.

Paneer was arrested and has been remanded for further investigations.

His case is expected to come up in court again on January 7.

• Asia