Man who allegedly abducted 19-year-old over car rental dispute charged

AI generated

SINGAPORE - A man was charged on Aug 5 over the abduction of a 19-year-old man, with an additional charge of possession of a 43cm-long parang submitted by prosecutors.

According to court documents, Mashahri Mazlan abducted the victim on Aug 4 at around 1.55am at Block 104B Canberra Street by using a knife, threatening and compelling him to enter a vehicle.

The 38-year-old is said to have also been armed with a parang measuring around 43cm long.

From Canberra Street, Mashahri allegedly drove the victim’s car to 43 Admiralty Road West, and later to the junction of Woodlands Avenue 10 and Avenue 7.

In an earlier statement, the police said that they were alerted to the incident on Aug 4. Their preliminary investigations showed that the victim was confronted by the group, which included Mashahri, two women and another man, over a car rental dispute.

Mashahri is said to have held up the parang to threaten and order the victim to sit in the front passenger seat.

Meanwhile, the other male member of the group sat in the rear.

Officers from Woodlands Police Division spotted the victim’s vehicle in Woodlands after his alleged abduction, but Mashahri sped off to avoid arrest.

The pursuit ended when the vehicle collided into a lamppost at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 7 and Woodlands Avenue 10.

Mashahri was arrested at the scene, with the parang found in his possession, while the other members of the group ran off.

The 36-year-old man and two women, aged 30 and 38, were separately arrested through follow-up investigations. Police investigations are ongoing against the three of them.

Mashahri will be remanded for police to continue investigations. His case will be heard in court again on Aug 12.

If convicted of abduction, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or receive a combination of such punishments.