SINGAPORE: An Indian-origin man was fined 3,000 Singapore dollars on Tuesday for setting off “dangerous” fireworks on Diwali in the country, a media report said. Sivasarvanan Suppiah Murugan, 43, who works as a store manager, had bought a box of Happy Boom fireworks, intending to set them off to celebrate the festival in Little India precinct, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh.
He pleaded guilty to one count of discharging dangerous fireworks. The court heard that Sivasarvanan went to work at Lady Dream Club in Perak Road on the eve of Diwali. Between 8.30 PM on October 26 and 4 AM the next day, Sivasarvanan went to several other clubs in the area to drink with his friends.
While at Mohicans Pub along Madras Street, he decided to discharge the fireworks in front of the joint as he thought there were no cameras nearby.
Sivasarvanan placed a carton of the fireworks on the road at the T-junction of Madras Street and Campbell Lane and lit them before running a distance away.
The fireworks went off and police officers deployed safety and security in Little India for the festive celebrations heard the sound of the fireworks and saw lights shooting up in the sky.
They rushed to the scene and found the discharged fireworks carton at the scene, but Sivasarvanan was not there.
A police officer from an observation point at Farrer Park Station Road spotted fireworks in the air around 12.39 AM.
No personal injury or property damage was caused. Sivasarvanan, who was unrepresented, was granted his request for pay the fine in two instalments.
Authorities deploy extra police in the area over weekends and during festivals since the December 2013 riots involving migrant workers.
The penalties for first-time offenders who set off dangerous fireworks are a jail term of up to two years, a fine between 2,000 and 10,000 dollars, or both. PTI
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