Jail and caning for man involved in brawl that led to fatal stabbing of ex-bouncer at Concorde Hotel
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
June 30, 2025
A man who was part of a group that beat up a former bouncer at an Orchard Road nightspot in 2023 was sentenced to two years and three months' jail, and three strokes of the cane on June 30, after pleading guilty to a rioting charge.
Kavind Raj Kannan, 25, and 10 other men - referred to in court documents as the "rioting group" - had ganged up against Mr Mohammad Isrrat Mohd Ismail, then 29, at the Concorde Hotel in the wee hours of Aug 20, 2023.
According to court documents, Mr Isrrat died after he was repeatedly stabbed with his own knife by Asvain Pachan Pillai Sukumaran, a gang member who was part of the rioting group.
Asvain, then 30, has been charged with murder and his case is pending.
The group included Sridharan Elangovan, then 30, and Manojkumar Velayanatham, then 32, who were members of the same secret society as Asvain at the time.
Kavind, who was not a gang member, and some members of the rioting group went to Club Rumours in the wee hours of Aug 20, 2023.
Mr Isrrat and Muhammad Shahrulnizam Osman, then 31, had gone to Club Rumours shortly before 4.50am. Both were former bouncers at the nightspot in Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall, and Mr Isrrat wanted to pass his wedding invitation cards to his former colleagues.
Both men were members of another secret society at the time.
Zurfaqar Musli, then 34 and the club's chief bouncer, spotted members of the rioting group and asked Mohamad Zachary Danial Mohamad Azhar, then 23, to retrieve three knives from a locker outside the nightspot.
The latter did so, handing a watermelon knife to Zurfaqar and a bread knife to Shahrulnizam. Zachary armed himself with the third knife, and the trio returned to Club Rumours.
Mr Isrrat also armed himself with a knife.
After the nightspot closed around 6am, Mr Isrrat and Shahrulnizam yelled vulgarities at the men in the rioting group.
An unnamed person from the group then yelled a gang slogan. The group then confronted the pair and a scuffle broke out.
Shahrulnizam used a knife to slash three men. He and Mr Isrrat then ran off, pursued by the rioting group.
Mr Isrrat spotted a friend of the rioting group and stabbed the man's forehead before fleeing.
Meanwhile, Shahrulnizam, who was ahead of Mr Isrrat, headed to a corridor outside Club Rumours. He then saw the rioting group running after Mr Isrrat.
The men surrounded Mr Isrrat near an escalator before Kavind and five others rained blows on him.
Mr Isrrat managed to get back up and run away, pursued by members of the rioting group.
They cornered him near a glass door exit leading towards Orchard Road and attacked him again.
This time, Kavind held him from the back by his shirt and shoved him into the door, causing him to fall to the ground.
Three other members of the rioting group then kicked Mr Isrrat, who managed to flee to an outdoor area.
Members of the rioting group continued pursuing him while Kavind trailed behind.
One of the men shoved Mr Isrrat, and he fell to the ground, dropping his knife.
Asvain picked up the weapon and stabbed Mr Isrrat repeatedly with it, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Brian Tan.
The rioting group then left the vicinity. Mr Issrat was later taken by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he died soon after.
After the stabbing, five men, including Kavind, Asvain and Sridharan, entered Sridharan's car, which was parked nearby.
The DPP said Asvain then suggested that they flee to Johor Baru, Malaysia.
Sridharan then drove to each man's house to collect their passports. All five men were arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint later that day.
On June 30, defence lawyers Amarick Gill and S. Ramanujen pleaded for Kavind to be given up to two years and two months' jail with caning.
The lawyers from Amarick Gill law firm said: "(Mr Isrrat) himself began the fracas with vulgarities being hurled at the accused's group.
"Someone in the accused's group used gang slogans. (But) it was not stated who did so, and it was certainly not Kavind as he was not a secret society member."
The lawyers added that Kavind was unaware that Mr Isrrat and Shahrulnizam were members of another gang at the time.
Sridharan and Manojkumar were among the members of the rioting group who were earlier sentenced to jail and caning. Zurfaqar, Zachary and Shahrulnizam were also dealt with in court earlier.
