CNB officer who lied in colleague's 2021 assault trial gets 18 months' jail

A Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) sergeant gave false testimony in court at an earlier trial involving his colleague, who was accused of assaulting a drug offender at the time.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

During the trial in 2021, Muhammad Heykal Rahman, who had nearly 10 years of work experience with the bureau, denied seeing his then colleague Vengedesh Raj Nainar Nagarajan assaulting Sivabalan Kanniappan.

However, the court heard that when Sivabalan, a Malaysian, pleaded with Heykal to help stop the assault, Heykal told him: "I cannot do anything. If he (beats) you, then he (beats) you."

On Dec 23, Heykal, 36, was sentenced to a year and six months' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of giving false evidence to District Judge Salina Ishak during Vengedesh's trial.

Another charge of giving false information to a police officer in 2018 during an investigation into the assault was considered during sentencing.

He had committed the offences to cover up Vengedesh's wrongdoing.

In an earlier statement sent to The Straits Times, CNB did not mention if Heykal is still an officer with the bureau.

However, a CNB spokesperson said it had investigated the complaint against Vengedesh and referred the case to the police for criminal investigation.