Gunmen grab $1.85m in cash

Four gunmen seized a cash box with about $1.85 million and three Remington shotguns from security guards in a Tsuen Wan commercial centre yesterday.

Three security guards were pushing a trolley with the cash box on top to HSBC on the first floor of the Fou Wah Centre in Castle Peak Road, when they were ambushed.

'When the lift doors opened, four robbers pointed their pistols at the guards and ordered them to squat,' a police officer said.

'The bandits snatched the cash box and three Remington shotguns and then pushed the guards back into the lift. One of robbers pressed a button and it took the guards to the third floor . . . The robbery was well-planned; it took less than a minute.' The security guards alerted police when the lift stopped on the third floor.

More than 100 police officers threw a cordon around Fou Wah Centre and neighbouring blocks, including a multi-storey car park.

The officer said the cash box, containing $1.7 million and US$20,000 in cash, was neither chained to the trolley nor fixed with a smoke-generating security device, which has foiled a number of robberies in the past.