SINGAPORE, Feb 26 — The language barrier was one of the issues police officers faced when the Little India riot broke out on Dec 8 last year, the Committee of Inquiry (COI) heard today.

Corporal Arshard Abdul Murad told the COI that he and the other police officers shouted in English to the crowd of rioters to disperse and go home.

“But it did seem that they did not understand what we were saying and they continued to walk about aimlessly,” he added.

On that night, 33-year-old Indian national construction worker Sakthivel Kumaravelu was fatally run over by a bus, and the accident sparked a riot.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Edwin Yong Wen Wei felt the police officers’ initial communication with the crowd around the bus could have been better “as the crowd may not have understood” what the officers were saying when the crowd was asked to move back.

ASP Yong also added that while he has undergone training in crowd control and conflict management, he has not been trained for a “full-scale” riot such as the Little India riot.

Earlier today, another four police officers — either from the operations room, police station or present at the scene — testified in the inquiry.  — Today