C
Chun Li
Guest
May 3, 2011
Fatal hit-and run still shrouded in mystery
By Khushwant Singh
EIGHT months after Shapon Miah Abdush Sadek was found lying facedown on a slip road leading into the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), the circumstances of his death from a hit-and-run are still largely unknown.
The coroner inquiry heard on Tuesday that investigations were unable to establish how the 28-year-old was injured on the night of Aug 17 last year. Neither the type of vehicle or the identity of the driver could also be ascertained.
In his findings, State Coroner Victor Yeo noted that the injuries suffered by the Bangladeshi national were consistent with those sustained in a road traffic accident.
Cause of death was attributed to acute bleeding from a ruptured kidney but the coroner also noted that there were no eyewitnesses or closed-circuit television footage to shed light on what exactly happened.
Investigation officer Ivan Leong Hong Chung told the court that Shapon Miah was run over at about 10pm along Penjuru Road while on his way back after praying and breaking fast at the Hasanah mosque. Taken to the National University Hospital, he died on the morning of Aug 19.
Investigators found no debris at the accident scene. There were muddy tyre marks that suggested that heavy vehicles ply the road quite regularly.
Although SI Leong said that there was no evidence to link the tyre marks to the hit-and-run, it was quite possible that the absence of debris could be due to the greater height of such vehicles.
However, a police check of nearby car parks of heavy vehicles found none with damage or bloodstains.
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