The victims included a 41-year-old Indian national who was found dead at an open field along Kallang Road. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
THREE men who carried out what police described as a 'cruel' and 'inhumane' spate of attacks in the Kallang area on Sunday were arrested on Monday night.
The trio, all Sarawakians who worked here as cleaners and odd-job workers, went on a planned orgy of violent theft which has been rarely seen here.
The men, who stayed at a Syed Alwi Road lodging house, are believed to have hatched their crimes with four others. The gang went on a knife-wielding rampage that left one person dead, two others in intensive care and another with half his palm hacked off - all for $400 in cash and three cellphones.
Police have mounted a huge manhunt in several areas for the remaining four suspects who are believed to be part of the same gang. The seven may also be responsible for a few other similar slash-and-rob incidents in the area recently.
Said Criminal Investigation Department chief Ng Boon Gay: 'What the group had done was very violent. They not only robbed people of some small items... some hand phones and cash... they caused harm and killed one of them. These are all innocent victims. They had nothing to do with the culprits.'
The gang selected their quarry at random, stalking each one before pouncing on them with knives. All four were slashed and hacked before the gang made off with their belongings. They moved from one victim to another, covering a stretch of 2km in Kallang in the space of seven hours.
The Gang: A Study in Adolescent Behavior
