WHEN three teens wanted to leave a gang, their leader demanded to see them. During the meeting, the trio were assaulted by the leader and a few of his gang members.
Yesterday, the leader – Ahmad Zahir Ismail, 19, whose alias is Ahmad Zahir Abdullah – and security officer Eswaran Pannirselvam, 31, pleaded guilty to six and three charges respectively.
Eswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ jail for being part of an unlawful assembly and a secret society fighter, and breaching a 2006 personal protection order by kicking the knee of his younger sister.
In Zahir’s case, Community Court Judge Ng Peng Hong called for a reformative training report on Aug 16 to assess his suitability.
Among the charges he admitted to were those for rioting, robbery and putting a person in fear of harm to commit extortion.
Reformative training entails a training programme for young offenders to manage violent ways.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhong Zewei said Zahir, who joined a secret society in Kallang as a fighter in 2008, was told by a senior in mid-2009 to recruit youths to form a gang under his leadership. He started it in Toa Payoh. He got no fewer than 20, and began collecting money from them early this year. Last December, Zahir invited Eswaran to join them as a fighter.
Mr Zhong said that on March 16, when Zahir learnt of the intention of a 15-year-old and two others to leave the gang, he demanded to meet them. They met Zahir at a staircase landing in a block of flats in Toa Payoh that evening.
Zahir told Eswaran and four other accomplices to turn up. While the victims were talking to Zahir, the latter punched one of them.
Eswaran and the others joined in and punched and kicked the victims repeatedly. Amid the assault, Zahir pulled the first victim’s head back by the hair. Eswaran then punched the boy’s face twice. The victims were later allowed to leave.
:o
