A man accused of throwing acid in a fight in a crowded Mong Kok street on Sunday had been released on bail just three days before the attack that injured 11 people, a court heard yesterday. Ken Chi Chi-hong, 28, had been granted bail on Thursday on the grounds that he had to take care of his very ill father, the court heard. He appeared in Kowloon City Court yesterday for the hearing of an application to have a blackmailing charge transferred to the District Court. But prosecutors withdrew the application and applied for the blackmail and acid attack cases to be heard together in the magistrate's court. Magistrate Andrew Hon-cheung agreed and remanded Chi to appear in court again today. Court documents showed that Chi was charged with extorting HK$380,000 on July 14 from the operator of a handbag stall on Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok, who was severely burned in Sunday's acid attack. The prosecution told the court that Chi had taken the acid to the market, where he threw it over the man, his wife and nine passers-by, including a police officer who was injured when trying to arrest Chi. The stall operator was severely burned while his wife and the others suffered less serious injuries. Police will search the defendant's home to collect evidence related to the acid attack, the court heard. The seriously injured man, who was admitted to Queen Mary Hospital for skin grafts on Sunday, was in stable condition yesterday. His wife was also stable in Kwong Wah Hospital. The nine other injured people were discharged after treatment. Chi will face one count of throwing acid to cause grievous bodily harm in Kowloon City Court today. Sunday's acid attack prompted fears among bystanders that it was a repeat of similar attacks in Mong Kok on December 13, in which 46 people were injured. Two similar attacks followed on May 16 and June 8, injuring more than 50 people.