Two more Indians charged for Singapore rioting

Two more Indians were today charged by authorities here for alleged rioting in Singapore's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years, taking the total number of Indians arraigned in the incident to 33.
Palanivel Dhasmohan, 27, and Karuppiah Chandrasekar, 31, face one rioting charge each, punishable by up to seven years in prison and caning.
The duo were accused of being part of an unlawful assembly of 400 South Asian migrant workers and throwing pieces of hardened cement at police officers in the vicinity of Little India's Race Course Road on December 8.
The trouble started after a private bus fatally knocked down an Indian pedestrian, 33-year-old Sakthivel Kuaravelu, at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road in Little India, a precinct of Indian-origin businesses, eateries and pubs where most of the South Asian workers take their Sunday break.

The migrant workers involved in the rampage left 39 police and civil defence staff injured and 25 vehicles -- including 16 police cars -- damaged or burnt.
Singapore previously witnessed violence of such scale during race riots in 1969.

The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme was helping to secure lawyers for all the accused, its representative told the Court.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has ordered the formation of a special committee to probe the riot and warned to use "full force of the law" against trouble-makers.
Meanwhile, a Catholic church will hold a memorial Mass on Sunday for Kumaravelu and a collection taken during the Tamil-language service will be donated to the victim's family in Tamil Nadu.