MAINLAND security officials yesterday handed over to police at the border two suspects, one of them wanted for a burglary committed in 1985.
The men were transferred at 3 pm in a brief ceremony at Lok Ma Chau.
Police sources say the release of the suspects, captured last month by the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau and detained over ''minor'' offences, might be the first in a batch of detainees to be sent back to the territory in the next few weeks.
So far this year, eight suspects have been returned to Hong Kong from China compared with 18 offenders in 1993. One suspect, 33, is alleged to have skipped bail after being sent for trial in October 1985 on a charge of burglary. His alleged accomplice was convicted and sentenced to 21/2 years' jail.
The second suspect returned yesterday was wanted after failing to appear in court last year on charges of robbery and indecent assault.
The charges followed an incident in a lift at a Shek Lei Estate in December 1991.
