Indian jailed for last year's riots in Singapore

Singapore: An Indian-origin man was on Monday sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his involvement in December 8 riots in Singapore.

Sarangan Kumaran, 36, a construction worker, was found guilty of throwing objects at the police during the riot, the Straits Times reported. The riots in Little India erupted on December 8 when a private bus knocked down and killed an Indian construction worker.

Kumaran was photographed hurling a large rock at an overturned police car and throwing a large green plastic rubbish bin at the windscreen of a police vehicle, causing it to crack.

He had also hit a traffic police bike repeatedly with a pole before walking away, the report said. When he returned a few minutes later, he danced around the motorcycle after seeing it being torched by others.

Kumaran is the third foreign worker to plead guilty and the 14th person charged over the Little India riots, which resulted in the damage of 23 emergency vehicles, five of which were set on fire.

The estimated cost of damage caused to the police vehicles alone was over Singapore $630,000 ($505,000). Twenty-five Indian nationals were charged in connection with the riots.