4 Indian students jailed in Singapore for shoplifting items worth over Rs 1 lakh

Four Indian students were sentenced to jail in Singapore on Wednesday for conspiring to steal apparel worth over SG$1,700 (roughly Rs 1 lakh) from a retail store by removing price tags from the items.

Ridham Mukeshbhai Shihora (20), Ashokbhai Hunsmit (21), Milan Ghanshyambhai Kuvadiya (26) and Ruchi Sanjay Kumar Chauhan (25) were sentenced to between 40 and 65 days in jail, the Straits Times newspaper reported.

Shihora was handed the heaviest sentence after he pleaded guilty to one count of theft in dwelling and another count of attempting to commit a similar crime. The other three admitted to one count of theft in dwelling or attempted theft each.

The four shoplifters, who were on student passes in Singapore, studied in different schools but lived together in the same flat. They stole the items by removing the price tags which contained radio-frequency identification (RFID). They then bought tote bags at the self-checkout area, stuffed the items into the bags, and pretended that they had paid for all of them.

Deputy public prosecutor Maximilian Chew told the court that one of the shoplifting incidents happened on 12 October at the Uniqlo outlet in Orchard Central.

Three other Indian nationals, identified in court documents as Bhavik (24), Vishal (23), and Darshan (22), were also reportedly in on the conspiracy. The group went to the store at around 6.00 pm and stole 64 pieces of apparel worth SG$1,788 in total.

Following this, they again went to the outlet four days later along with four other Indian nationals — Bhavik, Shivam (27), Jay (26), and Mili (27) — but left hurriedly after a store security officer noticed them and asked for a receipt as proof of payment.

After a sales assistant lodged a complaint, police arrested four of the suspects with the help of closed-circuit television camera footage. Bhavik, Vishal, Darshan and Mili had already left Singapore.

The four shoplifters, who attended the hearings via video-link while in remand, admitted that they were committing an offence, and allegedly pointed to Bhavik as the mastermind. Shihora and Hunsmit claimed Bhavik had threatened them with eviction by increasing their room rental if they did not follow his instructions.