Indian Biryani restaurant owner in Singapore sentenced to jail for hurting business rival: report

An Indian businessman, who owns a well-known biryani restaurant here, was on Monday sentenced to six years of jail and six strokes of cane for conspiring to have a man from a rival eatery slashed for selling the same delicacy next door in 2016, according to a media report.

Zackeer Abbass Khan, 49, who owns the Zam Zam restaurant was found guilty after a long-running trial of conspiring with several others to have Victory restaurant supervisor Liakath Ali Mohamed Ibrahim slashed and scarred for selling the same delicacies next door, Channel News Asia reported.

While Zackeer has been jailed, he intends to appeal, his lawyer said.

Zackeer had instructed business associate and long-time friend Anwer Ambiya Kadir Maideen, 50, to attack on Liakath for selling the same delicacies next door, the report said.

Anwer, also an Indian-origin, the middleman in the scheme, was given five-and-a-half years' jail.

He had hired secret society (gang) member Joshua Navindran Surainthiran, an Indian-origin, to attack Liakath on the face with a knife on August 26, 2015, for 1,700 Singapore dollars.

Joshua was jailed for six-and-a-half years and six strokes of the cane for the slashing and other offences in November 2016.

Both Zackeer and Anwer were found guilty of a charge of conspiring to cause grievous hurt to Liakath, who was left with a permanent scar, the report said.

Zackeer was convicted of another charge of criminal intimidation for threatening the victim, saying: "I see how you will work here and within one week I will either hit or kill you."