'Samaritan' who provided information on serial killer litter cases to police could be culprit himself

In a dramatic twist, a ‘samaritan’ who provided assistance to police in a spate of high-rise litterings at Cassia Crescent could be the culprit himself. 

Danial Ali Liaqat Ali, 20, was arrested on Tuesday (Dec 12) and charged in court with one count of committing a rash act on Wednesday (Dec 13). 

He is accused of throwing a can of sardines from his living room window on the 16th floor of Block 52, Cassia Crescent. 

It was revealed in court that Daniel may be involved in several other cases as well. 

During the hunt for the culprit which lasted a week, Daniel often mingled with the crowd at the scene after allegedly throwing the items.

He also called to tip off the media and reportedly provided false information to the police to divert officers’ attention in order to further his ruse. 

Despite added security measures by the police, and even a voluntary patrol group formed by elderly residents to catch the culprit, Daniel managed to evade capture.

After several days of investigation, there was finally a breakthrough in the case.

In a statement issued on Tuesday (Dec 12), the police said that officers from the Bedok Police Division had conducted an investigation and arrested Daniel. 

He is now held at the division and will be back in court on Dec 20. 

It is understood that the accused is currently serving national service (NS). 

After news of the arrest broke, reporters were shocked.

Over the past few days, Daniel had provided various updates and tip-offs for Lianhe Wanbao.

Each time after the ‘culprit’ threw something down, Daniel would know what item was thrown, and where the items landed. 

For example, he once told reporters that a chair which was thrown down could be found in the corridors on the 14th floor. 

He even knew that the culprit was continuing to throw marbles down under added surveillance from the police.  

Each time after meeting the reporters, he would point out where the closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) are, and give a detailed analysis on where the items were thrown from. 

He also speculated that the culprit was clearly taunting the police. 

On Sunday (Dec 10) he sent a photo of a mahjong table along the corridors, saying it had just been thrown by the culprit and hopes that the police will be able to catch him soon. 

The series of high-rise littering incidents have caused a commotion in the neighbourhood.

Accompanied by his grandmother, Daniel also went down to ‘mingle’ with the crowd on one occasion. 

After finding out that her grandson was a suspect behind the cases, the elderly woman was saddened. 

When she spoke to reporters on Wednesday morning (Dec 13), she said that she had been curious over the spate of killer-litter incidents but could only observe from the windows, as she depends on a wheelchair to move around.

Hence, Daniel decided to push her down to join the crowd. 

She recalled that once, they were both downstairs when Daniel suddenly ran up, saying that he wanted to grab the keys. 

She did not expect the police to show up at her doorsteps on Tuesday (Dec 12) at around 5pm.

At that time, Daniel was away in camp, and after some arrangements, he was arrested and sent to a police station.