The latest case of stolen urns took a new twist yesterday when it was revealed that a mobile phone number left with a ransom note belonged to the police.
But officers swiftly rejected any suggestion that anyone in the force was involved in the theft of three urns from a Tseung Kwan O crematorium and a $50,000 demand for their return.
The number, one of two left with three ransom notes at the scene, belongs to the Kwun Tong police station and is assigned to different officers at different times when they go on patrol.
'We believe the thief who stole the urns might have learned the number through being contacted by an officer with this phone,' a source said.
Investigators believe it was a ruse to discredit the police.
The ransom notes were left in each of the three niches from which the urns were stolen from the sixth floor of the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery on Sunday.