Man charged for church bomb hoax: No evidence of religiously motivated attack or act of terror, say police
The man charged for the bomb hoax at St Joseph's Church on Dec 21 is believed to have acted alone.
The police said there is currently no evidence to suggest that it was a religiously motivated attack or an act of terror.
Singaporean Kokulananthan Mohan, 26, was charged in court on Dec 22 with the offence under the United Nations (Anti-terrorism Measures) Regulations.
He is accused of placing in the church three cardboard cylinders filled with stone pebbles and sporting protruding red wires, held together using black and yellow adhesive tapes, and deceiving another man into believing the contraption was likely to explode.
The police received a call for assistance regarding a suspicious item at 620 Upper Bukit Timah Road at about 7.10am.
Preliminary investigations suggested that Kokulananthan had allegedly staged the incident in the church with the self-fabricated item that resembled an improvised explosive device.
He was subsequently arrested.
The police added that an application would be made to have Kokulananthan remanded for psychiatric evaluation.
Under the United Nations (Anti-terrorism Measures) Regulations, no person in Singapore shall place any article or substance in any place whatsoever with the intention of inducing in some other person a false belief that the article or substance is likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property.
The offence carries a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $500,000 or both.
