Sep 4, 2007
Nabbed in Orchard Rd after
hunt: NSF with rifle, ammo
By David Boey & Jermyn Chow
A 20-HOUR manhunt for a full-time National Serviceman, who went
missing on Sunday night with his rifle and several rounds of live
ammunition, ended in the heart of Orchard Road last night.
The 20-year-old NSF, Corporal Dave Teo Ming, had the weapon -
believed to be an SAR-21 assault rifle - and the bullets on him
when he was nabbed on the third floor of Orchard Cineleisure
mall.
He was discovered missing from the Mandai Hill Camp at 11.59pm on
Sunday night, sparking off an islandwide manhunt that involved more
than 200 police officers.
Last night, witnesses to Cpl Teo's arrest at the mall, which is
popular among the young for its mix of fast food, fashion, music
and sports shops, said everything happened quickly and without fuss
- so much so that even the security guards there were unaware of
the drama that unfolded.
Ms Aisah Abdullah, a 46-year-old cashier at World of Sports on the
mall's second floor said: 'At about 8pm, I saw men running up the
escalator to the third floor. Soon, more police arrived and they
cordoned off the whole floor for about an hour.'
Other witnesses said they saw a brief stir.
Police did not say how Cpl Teo managed to conceal the weapon, which
is about 80 cm long, slightly shorter than an umbrella.
The Ministry of Defence and police said Cpl Teo was trained as an
infantryman wth the 1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry
Regiment.
His full-time NS stint was to have ended next month.
Cpl Teo had been assigned the rifle and ammunition for guard duty
at the camp.
The Singapore Armed Forces, strict about accounting for all
firearms and ammunition, requires soldiers to sign for weapons and
to count every bullet that is issued.
Even empty bullet casings are recovered from the rifle range after
practice firings.
In a similar case in 1986, a soldier who stole an American-made
AR-15 rifle and 30 bullets two years earlier was charged in the
High Court and given five years in jail and 12 strokes of the
cane.
Cpl Teo will be investigated under the Arms Offences Act, which
carries a jail penalty of between five and 10 years, and caning for
unlawful possession of arms or ammunition.
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ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KHUSHWANT SINGH AND LEUNG
WAI-LENG
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
