Police arrest public servant for sharing information on Tampines stabbing

Singapore—The police announced on Monday (Feb 15) that a 37-year-old man has been arrested under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for wrongfully spreading information about the stabbing incident on Feb 10 which left a woman and a man dead.

The woman was reported to have been stabbed at around 6.30 am, and the man was found later that morning.

At 10.30 am, the police issued a look-out message (LOM) to different law enforcement agencies after the suspect’s identity was confirmed, according to mothership.sg.

Later that day, the police were alerted that a photograph of the LOM had been published on social media and was being shared by people online and on message apps.

According to initial investigations, the man reported to have shared the photo is a public servant from another agency who was authorised to receive the LOM, considered classified information.

He is said to have shared the photo on WhatsApp with a friend, a 60-year-old man, who was not authorised to see it.

The 60-year-old man shared it with others who were also not authorised to see it.

The police are investigating the wrongful spread of information.

Should the 37-year-old man be convicted of wrongful communication of information under Section 5(1)(e)(i) of the OSA, he could be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed up to two years.

Mothership added that the people unauthorised to receive the image should not circulate it, since they could also be held liable under the same law.

At around 6.30 am on Feb 10, the police were alerted to an incident at Block 206 Tampines Street 21.

They discovered a 42-year-old woman with slash wounds on her neck lying motionless at the building’s void deck.

A little later, at around 9.10 am, a 45-year-old man was found, also lying motionless, at the foot of Block 205A Punggol Field. 

The man and the woman were still alive, albeit unconscious, and taken to separate hospitals. However, they both died in hospital.

The police said on the day of the stabbing that photos related to the deaths were already being circulated. They included a picture, reportedly of the woman covered in blood, with her phone and handbag nearby. 

The other photo was the LOM, which included the police report number as well as the name, image, date of birth and nationality of the man. The police asked the public not to circulate the photos.

”The police urge members of the public to refrain from circulating them out of respect for the deceased and the aggrieved families,” the police statement said.

/TISG

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Police investigating stabbing-related deaths of woman and man in Tampines and Punggol