A 37-year-old man has been arrested for leaving his bag unattended at an MRT station while he ran errands twice in a day, police said on Wednesday (Oct 18).

He is believed to have left a bag at an exit of Farrer Park MRT station at around 12.25pm on Monday. Before police officers arrived, the bag was removed.

Less than two hours later, the police were alerted to a similar incident at Outram Park MRT station, which is five stops away from Farrer Park on the North East Line.

While investigations were ongoing at the station, a 37-year-old man approached officers and said the bag belongs to him.

The bag was found to contain a laptop, mobile phones and computer-related paraphernalia.

Police said in a press release on Wednesday their preliminary investigations suggest the man had intentionally left his bag unattended inside the MRT stations while he attended to some errands.

The man is under investigation for an offence of causing public nuisance. Anyone convicted of the offence can be fined up to S$1,000.

“The police treat all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who intentionally causes public alarm,” the police added in its press release.

There have been several similar cases of public nuisance at MRT stations in recent months.

In April, construction worker Wang Jianpo was arrested for leaving a bag unattended at Hougang MRT station while boarding a train to Chinatown to run an errand. Wang was fined S$1,000 in June for his act, which sparked security fears and a brief closure of the station. More than 600 people were evacuated while the contents of the bag were being established.

In the same month, a 69-year-old man was arrested after leaving flour at Woodleigh MRT Station, also sparking a security scare that led to the station being closed for about three hours.

In June, a 34-year-old man was also arrested for public nuisance after leaving a luggage bag unattended at Admiralty MRT station while purchasing something at a convenience store. The bag was found to contain clothing, medication and some toiletries.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Kelly Ng

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