Man jailed for setting fire to Punggol HDB garbage chute & corridor on 4 occasions, burnt neighbour’s clothes & guitar
A man in Punggol received 15 weeks in prison last Friday (6 Feb) after repeatedly setting fire to items in his HDB corridor, including a garbage chute.
After being arrested, he alleged that he had done so to frame his loan creditors.
Man starts fire in HDB garbage chute & corridor 4 times
On 4 Nov 2024, 29-year-old Kirtan Sukumaran used a lighter to set several plastic bags on fire at the common garbage chute in a HDB block at Edgefield Plains. He then went home.
Source: Court documents via Shin Min Daily News
A member of the public spotted the fire and contacted the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), who extinguished the fire.
Several items, the walls, and a water pipe suffered damage as a result of the blaze, Shin Min Daily News reported.
On two occasions on 5 Nov, at 1pm and 7pm, Kirtan set fires at the garbage chute again, burning a mattress and more plastic bags.
At 2.15am on 6 Nov, the defendant left his unit to smoke a cigarette. He then spotted a bag of clothes, a guitar, and two boards in the corridor outside his neighbour’s unit.
Kirtan lit the bag of clothes on fire and subsequently went home to sleep.
Source: Court documents via Shin Min Daily News
According to previous reports, a resident awoke at 2.30am to the smell of smoke and found the items on fire. With the help of other neighbours, the resident extinguished the flames with a hosereel.
Defendant felt pressured by creditors & wanted to frame them
On 7 Nov, witnesses reported seeing the police arrest a suspect for arson and bringing him back to the scene.
In court, Kirtan faced four charges of mischief by fire and one count of voluntarily causing hurt. He pleaded guilty to two of the charges, with the rest taken into consideration for sentencing.
During questioning, Kirtan claimed that he had borrowed money from others and was thus faced with demands for repayment from creditors.
Feeling pressured, he allegedly set the fires in an attempt to frame them for it.
His four acts of arson resulted in damage to the walls, ceiling, lights, wiring, and water pipes in the garbage chute. Kirtan paid S$260 in repair costs in Jan 2026.
On 6 Feb 2026, the judge sentenced him to 15 weeks in jail.
Also read: Fire breaks out in Yishun HDB stairwell for two consecutive days, arson prank suspected
Fire breaks out in Yishun HDB stairwell for two consecutive days, arson prank suspected
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Featured image adapted from court documents via Shin Min Daily News.
