Everything About the Zam Zam Restaurant Saga Where a Hitman Was Engaged to Attack a Rival Restaurant

By
Shawn Ambrose
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To humans outside Singapore, Zam Zam sounds like the babbling of a baby learning to make car noises.

But to Singaporeans, Zam Zam is a food haven where you can have Murtabak and Mutton Biriyani so good you’ll collapse after a mouthful.

Famous YouTuber Mark Wiens even visited the popular restaurant.

And his head tilted after trying the Murtabak, so you know it’s good.

Image: Giphy

Damn, is it lunchtime yet?

But Zam Zam has hit the headlines not for their delectable dishes, but because their owner has just been sentenced to jail.

Image: Giphy

Reader Bao: Going to jail because the food is too extreme-

Zam Zam Owner Sentenced To Six Years’ Jail

Zam Zam owner Zackeer Abbass Khan was sentenced to six years’ jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday (11 May) for hiring a man to slash a rival.

Image: Tenor

In 2015, Zackeer had conspired with his friend Anwer Ambiya Kadir Maideen and secret society member Joshua Navindran Surainthiran to have Victory restaurant supervisor Liakath Ali Mohamed Ibrahim slashed and scarred.

50-year-old Anwer, the middleman in the scheme, was given five-and-a-half years’ jail.

Joshua, the man who actually slashed Liakath, was sentenced in November 2016 to six-and-a-half years’ jail, and six strokes of the cane, for the slashing and other offences, according to CNA.

So, what happened?

Business Rivalry 

This may surprise you, but it didn’t actually have anything to do with Murtabak.

It all started in 2005.

Zackeer and Liakath were business partners, running Mina Al Likha Restaurant together.

However, when the business failed, both men were reportedly sued for a sum of S$38,841.60, according to Mothership.

The Zam Zam owner claimed that Liakath didn’t pay his share of the sum owed, so Zackeer had to settle the payment in full via instalments.

And when the failed restaurant was sold to Victory restaurant, Zackeer says he was told the business was sold for S$100,000, when it was in fact sold for S$180,000, “cheating” him of $80,000.

Tensions between the two only increased when Liakath joined Victory restaurant.

The Slashing

Both men started accusing the other of pulling customers away from their restaurants, and the police had to come down on 22 Aug 2015, to advise both restaurants to stop touting.

Zackeer believed this was a set-up by Liakath, and that he ratted on Zam Zam employees to the police, reported The Straits Times.

Outraged, Zackeer threatened Liakath in Tamil, saying: “I see how you will work here and within one week I will either hit or kill you.”

Imagine going to work to sell one of the tastiest things on Earth and having to worry about being murdered.

Unfortunately for Liakath, Zackeer’s threat wasn’t an empty one.

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He asked his friend Anwer to arrange an attack on Liakath, offering S$2,000 to get the job done.

Anwer called Joshua a day later, and instructed him to give Liakath “a slash on the face”.

Joshua was paid $1,900 in total for the attack.

Not sure where the $100 goes to. To buy the knife and the food?

Three days later, Joshua confronted Liakath at a bridge between Rochor Canal Road and Sungei Road and slashed his face with a knife.

The victim sustained a 7-cm cut over his right upper lip, which extended to his right cheek, and a part of the cut went through to the inner surface of the lip.

The slashing left him with a permanent scar.

Successful Businessman Who Should Have Known Better

District Judge Mathew Joseph said that as a “successful businessman in Singapore”, Zackeer “should have known better.”

“The resulting consequences can be severe for both the victim and the perpetrators involved. Certainly there can be no place in our society for gratuitous violence arising out of mere business rivalry,” the judge said.

Anwer, who pleaded guilty yesterday to one additional charge of being a member of a secret society, said he deeply regrets his actions and realised he was being used by Zackeer.

“Now I realise I was merely used as a pawn for his business needs. I have learned a very painful and expensive lesson. I’ve lost the custody of my beloved son and wife. We have been separated due to this court case.”

He said Zackeer, who was his friend for 20 years, “made use of me as a shield to get his own malicious deeds done”.

Zackeer, on the other hand, intends to appeal against the judge’s decisions. His bail has been set at $75,000.

I don’t know about you, but I think this saga has the makings of a thriller on Netflix:

Victory Over Zam Zam: A Tale Of Murtabaks, Betrayal, and Violence.

Hopefully, the owners will realise how trivial they were being and continue to sell the delicious food we all know and love.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]