A Traffic Police (TP) inspector who molested four male subordinates while they were serving their national service as special constables was sentenced to 16 months and nine weeks in jail yesterday.

Mohd Taufik Abu Bakar, who is married and now 56, was head of the hit-and-run investigation team when he committed the offences between January and September 2015.

In February this year, District Judge Jasvender Kaur found him guilty of six outrage of modesty charges. She acquitted him of one molestation charge involving a fifth special constable.

The police told The Straits Times that Taufik is no longer with the Singapore Police Force (SPF). He joined the TP investigation branch in 1998, and became the officer in charge of the hit-and-run investigation team five years later.

He had been suspended from service since Aug 23, 2016, and retired on May 10 last year upon reaching his mandatory retirement age.

The police said that with his conviction, his retirement benefits will be forfeited.

The court heard that on Sept 10, 2015, Taufik approached a 21-year-old special constable to complain about his body odour and said he had some cream that could remove hair from his armpits and groin.

Two days later, Taufik invited the young man to his flat, and said he would teach him how to use the product. He took the man home the next day.

When the man was naked in the toilet, Taufik barged in and applied the hair removal cream to the man's private parts. After removing the cream, he slathered the man with body scrub and molested him again.

The special constable testified that he felt like "the whole world collapsed on him, so all he did was comply".

After sending the man home, Taufik texted him to say: "Let me know if you feel lonely and need me to accompany you. You can also stay over at my place."

Taufik also molested three other special constables at the TP headquarters. Between January and July 2015, he placed his right hand around a 24-year-old man's waist, pulling him close.

He molested another 21-year-old man between June and July that year by slapping his right buttock. He also outraged a 22-year-old special constable's modesty.

The offences came to light on Sept 16, 2015, when the man whom he had invited home told the 22-year-old victim what had happened. The two men then told an NS probationary inspector about their ordeal.

The police told The Straits Times: "SPF takes a zero-tole-rance approach to officers who break the law, and will deal severely with such officers in accordance with the law, including charging them in court. We will also not hesitate to remove them from their positions."

Offenders convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned on each charge. Taufik cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.