Man charged with murder after fight at Concorde Hotel in Orchard Road led to death

Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
Aug 22, 2023

A 29-year-old man was charged with murder on Tuesday, after a man died following a fight in Orchard Road on Sunday morning.

Asvain Pachan Pillai Sukumaran is accused of murdering Mr Mohammad Isrrat Mohd Ismail at about 6am at 100 Orchard Road, which is the address of Concorde Hotel Singapore and Concorde Shopping Mall.

It was previously reported that Mr Isrrat had multiple injuries and was unconscious when taken to hospital, where he died.

Another man, 23, was conscious when rushed to hospital with multiple injuries.

Asvain, who is represented by Mr Riyach Hussain, is in remand and appeared in court on Tuesday via video-link.

District Judge Terence Tay granted permission for him to be taken out of remand at Central Police Division to revisit the scene and recover any exhibits.

Ten other people have been charged in relation to the case, including seven who were charged on Tuesday.

They include Muhammad Shahrulnizam Osman, 30, who is accused of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

Shahrulnizam, who did not have a lawyer, allegedly used a bread knife with a 30cm blade to slash Visnu Suriamurthi, 27, injuring him in the chest.

Visnu was charged, in the Court Crime Registry Chambers in a hearing not open to the public, with one count of rioting armed with a deadly weapon.

According to the courts’ computer system, he is warded at Changi General Hospital and will be remanded upon his discharge.

Five other men were given a similar charge each.

The six of them were allegedly members of an unlawful assembly, of which one or more members allegedly committed the offence and injured Mr Isrrat.

Kavind Raj Kannan, 24, Manojkumar Velayanatham, 31, and Sridharan Elangovan, 28, are represented by Mr N. Divanan.

Arun Kaliaperumal, 32, is represented by Mr Ramesh Tiwary, and Sharvin Jay Nair, 24, is also represented by Mr Riyach.

The next hearing date for the eight men charged on Tuesday is Aug 29.

Three others – Balakrishna Subramaniam, 32, Mervyn Veryl Daud, 28, and Sijesh Asogan, 25 – were charged on Monday with one count each of rioting armed with a deadly weapon.

On Monday, the police said investigations against two men and one woman, aged between 22 and 26, are ongoing.

If convicted of murder, Asvain will face the death penalty.

Shahrulnizam can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or caned, or receive any combination of such punishments if he is convicted of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

Those convicted of rioting with a deadly weapon, can be jailed for up to 10 years and caned.