SINGAPORE, Oct 29 — Already facing the prospect of jail time for conspiring to slash the face of a rival eatery employee and intimidating him, the owner of popular murtabak restaurant Zam Zam was charged on Tuesday with threatening another employee of Victory Restaurant.
Zackeer Abbass Khan, 50, allegedly committed his new offences on the evening of Oct 24 at 719 North Bridge Road, close to where the two restaurants are.
He faces two charges of criminal intimidation and committing a rash act that endangered Amir Norman Halim’s personal safety.
Court documents stated that he is accused of threatening Amir, a Victory Restaurant employee, by saying in Malay: “If you fight again, I poke your eye. If you love your family, you work properly. If not, you see, I kill you.”
He also allegedly told Amir that he was not afraid to kill him “because I am already going in (to jail)”.
At around the same time when he made the threat, Zackeer allegedly swerved a multi-purpose vehicle — a Toyota Vellfire — towards Amir before braking, causing the other man to step back to avoid being hit.
Court records showed that when Zackeer was charged on Tuesday, he said that he had not committed the new offences and was “wrongfully accused”.
He added that he had not reoffended while out on bail for the past five years, and that he just had a heart operation one month ago.
He was not offered bail and will return to court on Nov 24.
If convicted of criminal intimidation, he could be jailed up to two years or fined, or both.
Committing a rash act endangering personal safety carries a maximum six-month jail term or a fine of up to S$2,500, or both.
Previous case
In May, Zackeer was sentenced to six years’ jail and six strokes of the cane for masterminding an attack on Victory Restaurant supervisor Liakath Ali Mohamed Ibrahim in 2015.
The assault and slashing left Liakath with a 5cm-long permanent scar on his right upper lip.
Zackeer had been found guilty of conspiring with his friend then to cause grievous hurt to Liakath, as well as threatening Liakath in Tamil one week before the attack by saying, “You watch out, in one week, I will do you.”
Zackeer was released on bail after filing an appeal, which is pending before the High Court.
Zam Zam and Victory, located next to each other along North Bridge Road in Bugis, have been embroiled in an almost century-long rivalry.
A district judge previously noted that both restaurants persistently touted for patrons, resulting in rising tensions between management and staff members at both establishments. — TODAY
