Truck driver bound, gagged in HK$5m cellphone robbery
Two robbers hijacked a truck and made off with HK$5 million worth of mobile phones after tying up and gagging the driver in Yuen Long, police said yesterday.
The hold-up happened when the 37-year-old driver, surnamed Lai, arrived to pick up his truck in Tung Tai Street, near the junction with Tai Hang Street, on Sunday. The victim, who works for a logistics company, had driven the vehicle from the mainland that day.
At about 9pm, two men wearing masks approached the victim from behind and rammed a sharp object into his back, forcing him into the truck, where he was bound and gagged, police said. 'He was pushed into the space behind the driver's seat, where he was ordered to lie down. One of the culprits then pressed his head down during the whole incident while the other drove the truck,' an officer said.
The truck pulled over in an unknown location, where the goods were unloaded. The vehicle was abandoned outside Buddhist Chan Wing Kan Memorial School in Lam Hau Tsuen Road, Yuen Long.
The driver untied himself and sought help from a passer-by, who called police at about 10.20pm.
Lai complained of feeling dizzy and nauseous, and was taken to Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long.
Police said more than 10,000 mobile phones worth about HK$5 million were stolen. An officer from Yuen Long police station said they were looking into whether the robbery was an inside job.
Police statistics show that the number of robberies dropped by 24 per cent to 552 in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year.
