Armed robber threatened to blow up Boon Lay pawnshop

PETALING JAYA (July 29): The cops are on the lookout for an armed robbery suspect who threatened to blow up a pawnshop in Boon Lay, Singapore, yesterday (July 28) after his failed robbery attempt involving a knife and a fake gun, said the Singapore Police Force in a Facebook posting yesterday.

Police said during the 4.30pm incident, the suspect entered the pawnshop just outside the Boon Lay MRT station and demanded that the staff hand over the cash and jewellery in the shop while allegedly threatening them with a knife and fake gun.

When the pawnshop staff refused to meet his demands, he allegedly threatened to blow the shop up with what he claimed was an explosive device.

He then hurled the object at them before escaping empty-handed.

The employees threw the object out of the pawnshop immediately before calling the police.

During the incident, an exit at the Boon Lay MRT station was temporarily closed at around 5pm while police cordoned off an area between the MRT station and the nearby Jurong Point shopping mall to enable investigations.

Investigations into the object showed that it only contained electrical components.

The exit was reopened at around 6pm. While the police said MRT services were uninterrupted, the Straits Times reported that a reader on the East-West line said his train skipped the Boon Lay MRT station at around 5pm and headed directly to Joo Koon station.

The suspect, according to video recordings, is about 1.75m tall who was last seen wearing a pink turban, blue jacket and long brown trousers.

Police are currently investigating the case which has been classified under Section 4(A) of the Arms Offences Act.

“Anyone found guilty of using or attempting to use any arm at the time of his committing or attempting to commit any scheduled offence shall, whether or not he has any intention to cause physical injury to any person or property, be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with death,” said the Facebook posting.