NSF arrested for leaving camp with rifle,
bullets
A 20-YEAR-OLD full-time National Serviceman left his camp on Sunday
night with his assault rifle and several rounds of live ammunition,
and sparked off a 20-hour manhunt.
Over 200 police officers combed the island before the drama finally
ended in the heart of Orchard Road.
Corporal Dave Teo Ming was arrested after policemen tracked him
down to the third floor of Orchard Cineleisure.
Ms Aisah Abdullah, a 46-year-old cashier at World of Sports on the
second floor of Cineleisure said: 'At about 8pm, I saw men running
up the escalator to the third floor. Soon more police arrived and
they cordoned the whole floor for about an hour.'
Other witnesses said they saw a brief struggle outside the Nike
Store. Police officers kept the commotion to minimum - even
security guards at the shopping complex were kept unaware of the
situation.
Corporal Teo still had the rifle on him when the police arrested
him. It is believed to be a Singapore-made SAR-21 rifle, which is
about 80cm long - or about the length of an umbrella.
Police would not say how he managed to conceal the weapon, but no
gun shots were heard, said shoppers at Cineleisure.
According to Ministry of Defence and Police, the NSF trained as
infantry man wth 1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment.
The first sign of trouble was when he discovered missing from the
Mandai Hills Camp at 11.59pm on Sunday.
Ironically, his tour of duty was almost over. CPL Teo was due to
complete his full-time NS stint next month.
The Singapore Armed Forces has strict regulations to account for
arms and ammunition and it does so by making soldiers sign for
weapons and counting every bullet that is issued.
Even empty bullet casings are recovered from the rifle range after
practice firings.
Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits
Times
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_154432.html
