A 37-year-old man has been arrested for wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the police said in a Feb. 15 news release.

Police look-out message circulated online

On Feb. 10, 2021, the police were alerted that an image of an official document had been posted on social media and circulated online on messaging applications amongst members of the public.

The official document was a police look-out message (LOM) sent to various law enforcement agencies.

The LOM was issued at about 7:30am to the agencies, after the police had established the identity of the suspect believed to be involved in a stabbing incident at Tampines.

The stabbing incident was reported on the same day at about 6:30am.

Shared classified info to friend via WhatsApp

Preliminary investigations revealed that the man is a public servant from another agency and an authorised recipient of this classified information.

He had allegedly taken a photograph of the LOM and shared it via WhatsApp with his 60-year-old male friend, who was not authorised to receive the classified information.

The LOM was then further disseminated by the 60-year-old man to other unauthorised recipients, resulting in the wider circulation of the information.

Police investigations are ongoing.

If convicted for wrongful communication of information under Section 5(1)(e)(i) of the OSA, the man can be fined up to S$2,000 and jailed for up to two years.

Police added that unauthorised recipients should not further circulate the confidential information received, as they may be similarly liable under the OSA.

More about the Tampines stabbing incident

Top images from Facebook & by Adem AY via Unsplash.e