Armed robbery at Western Union branch in Ubi; suspect at large
SINGAPORE: A man wielding a knife robbed a Western Union branch in Ubi on Tuesday morning (Aug 1), in the second armed robbery in Singapore in two days.
The suspect, who is at large, forced an employee of the money transfer branch at Block 301 Ubi Avenue 1 to hand over more than S$2,000 in cash. He then fled on foot, the police said.
The police were alerted at around 10.50am. The Western Union employee was not injured and no one was inside the branch at the time of the robbery, they said.
The suspect is said to be tall, and wearing a white helmet, black jacket and dark-coloured long pants.
The landlord of the Western Union branch, who only wanted to be known as Mr Liu, said he heard the female employee shouting for help. But by the time he reached the branch, the robber had fled.
Mr Liu, 56, who lives directly above the branch, added that the Western Union employee was "definitely scared".
According to Mr Liu, who also owns a flower shop next to the Western Union branch, this is the first time such an incident has happened since 1988, when he set up.
"I'm thinking of installing cameras for better security," he told Channel NewsAsia.
Police said investigations are ongoing.
This is the second armed robbery in as many days. On Monday, a 48-year-old man was arrested for robbing a Shell petrol station at knifepoint, in what the police said was the first such case in 10 years.
Source: CNA/ad
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Western Union robbery: Suspect taken back to Ubi Ave crime scene
SINGAPORE: The 58-year-old man charged with armed robbery at a Western Union outlet in Ubi Avenue 1 was brought to the scene of the crime on Monday (Aug 7) morning.
Hashim Hamzah, who was charged in court on Saturday, was brought to assist the police with investigations. He arrived with investigators in a blue police van just before 10am and was asked to retrace his steps before and after allegedly committing the robbery.
Hashim is accused of demanding money from 28-year-old Hankum Porntip, a female employee of the branch, at knifepoint on Aug 1.
With his head down throughout the process, he was led through the remittance outlet in handcuffs, where he spent a few minutes taking the police through Tuesday's sequence of events.
He was then brought back out to the front, then through a void deck corridor to the back of the store.
Channel NewsAsia understands he had dropped some S$3,000 of the $S4,000 he had allegedly taken behind the store while fleeing on a bicycle.
The money was picked up by Porntip, who Channel NewsAsia understands gave chase after the robbery. She was helped by members of the public.
Hashim then led police through some shops and eateries, and then to the back of an OCBC branch, where it is believed he had parked his bicycle.
An image circulated by police after the crime showed him wearing a white helmet and a mask. Channel NewsAsia understands he was wearing the helmet while standing outside an eatery some metres from the remittance outlet while waiting for staff to open the outlet for the day.
Hashim was arrested by police on Thursday night, after a 3-day extensive police operation that included trawling through some 1,000 hours of CCTV footage from shops and in-car cameras.
His case will be mentioned in court on Aug 11.
Source: CNA/jp