Singapore guard fined after forgetting to remove fake bomb for security drills

Durendran Vicknesh Venkatraman, 46, former part-time employee at security firm One Imperial Security, was fined S$1,800 (US$1,332) on Tuesday. He previously pleaded guilty of abandoning his post at the Sing Industrial Complex back in January, where a security exercise took place, CNA reported.

Durendran’s shift at the site was from 8 p.m. Jan. 4 to 8 a.m. the next day. However, at around 11:20 p.m. of Jan. 4, he abandoned his post to meet and drink was friends without informing anyone, The Straits Times reported.

At around 4:25 a.m. on Jan. 5, two security consultants were sent by One Imperial Security to the site to perform a security exercise involving a simulated attack to test security measures. When they arrived, they could not find Durendran and the main gates were open. They called Durendran, who lied and said he was out buying food.

A consultant then placed a fake bomb in a brown paper bag near the guardhouse, before leaving at 5 a.m. after Durendran did not return. The consultants then told the company that the exercise was canceled, as the security officer stationed at the site could not be found.

Durendran returned to the site minutes later. The consultants called him to instruct him on how to dispose of the fake bomb, but Durendran forgot. He then falsely wrote in the guard duty notebook that he had been inside the guardhouse for the entire shift.

The next security guard who took over the shift found the fake bomb and called the police. Officers were dispatched and over 100 people were evacuated and prevented from leaving the site. A bomb investigation took 90 minutes.