SINGAPORE, July 24 — Allegations of racial discrimination made by a late police officer, who posted online about alleged workplace bullying and ostracism before his recent death, have been found to be unsubstantiated, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF), which added however that these allegations will be investigated again nevertheless.
In a statement today, the police also said that they had informed the late Sergeant Uvaraja Gopal’s parents and brothers that they would be public disclosing information about his disputes with the family which resulted in the police being called twice in the days before he died.
The police added that the family has “expressed their understanding on the release of the information”.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had said last Friday that he has asked the police to investigate the claims of racial discrimination and workplace bullying.
On Monday, the police said that after re-investigating some of the allegations, they will refer the findings to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
The findings will also be submitted to Shanmugam, for his decision on whether the findings should be further reviewed.
The police had assessed that Uvaraja was facing “substantial challenges” at work relating to his performance, and also faced tensions with his family, with the police receiving calls from family members over alleged abuse.
As a result of these challenges at work, the police had taken steps to address the issue, such as giving him internal transfers, providing psychological counselling, as well as relieving him from carrying firearms earlier this year.
Uvaraja had posted on Facebook on Friday afternoon alleging that he had endured workplace bullying, racial discrimination, and family issues, before alluding that he would be dead by the time people read the post.
The 36-year-old died in hospital on Friday evening after he was found lying motionless at the foot of a Housing Board block in Yishun.
Work issues
The police said that through Uvaraja’s 10 years of service with the police, his superiors had assessed that he was “facing substantial challenges at work”.
He was provided coaching to address his performance issues. He was also given transfers, at his request, to six different work units in nine years.
Since 2015, Uvaraja was also granted additional leave, beyond his usual leave entitlements of vacation leave, casual leave, and ordinary sick leave.
“In 2022, for example, he was at work for fewer than 30 days, as he was on various types of leave, including extended sick leave, unrecorded leave, and no pay leave,” said police.
“In 2023, he had been at work for fewer than 25 days, for similar reasons.”
Uvaraja’s supervisors had also arranged for counselling and psychological assistance for him at various points in his service from 2016 onwards.
Most recently in January this year, he was assigned a para-counsellor after he reported experiencing work stress.
In February, he then reported to a new unit, following his request for a transfer from his previous unit, and showed “signs of being unstable”.
“He was counselled by a para-counsellor on the same day, and later attended to by a psychologist from the Police Psychological Services Department,” said SPF, adding that he was relieved from carrying firearms from Feb 16 this year out of safety concerns.
SPF also addressed a point Uvaraja made in his post about catching his colleagues allegedly vaping.
Police said that Uvaraja alerted his supervisors that he had spotted fellow officers vaping within the police compound.
“Acting on the information he provided, an independent supervisor was tasked to perform searches for e-cigarettes and vaping devices within the station premises, and interview the officers concerned,” the police said.
“The complaint was not made out, thus no disciplinary action was taken.”
In a separate incident in January this year, Uvaraja alerted his supervisors from a different police unit that he had spotted fellow officers smoking.
“Investigations found evidence of this infringement and disciplinary action was subsequently taken against those officers,” the police said.
Following both incidents, his supervisors facilitated his request to transfer to another unit to start afresh, as he felt uncomfortable working with the colleagues he had reported on.
Specific to the allegations of racial discrimination, the police said they take a “firm stance” against it but found that the allegations that Uvaraja made in 2015 were unsubstantiated following investigations and interviews with the officers involved.
The police added that there are avenues for officers to raise complaints on discriminatory workplace practices, such as to their unit commanders, Police Headquarters (HQ) or the Ministry HQ.
Family issues
The police added that their interviews also showed that the Uvaraja had had tensions with his family.
For instance, on the afternoon of July 13 this year, the police received multiple calls for assistance at his parents’ residence.
“When the police arrived, the late SGT Uvaraja was in a dispute with his family over financial matters. He had also allegedly assaulted his brother.”
As a result, the police commenced investigations against him for a case of voluntarily causing hurt and intentional harassment, the police said, adding that it was a pending case.
On the next day, Uvaraja’s mother lodged another police report against him, saying “she feared for her safety”.
Later in the day, Uvaraja’s sister-in-law called the police for assistance, saying that Uvaraja was outside her house. He left the area after the police arrived.
The police said that further updates on Uvaraja’s allegations will be provided in due course.
“We thank his family for his service and again express our deepest condolences. We have offered and are giving our fullest assistance to his family,” it added. — TODAY
