Knife attack: two arrested after pair hurt and robbed of HK$350,000 in violent assault
- Police received report of a fight on Fu Hing Street in Sheung Shui
- Suspects fled in a getaway car, with officers still searching for accomplices
Two men have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning that left a man and woman injured, and saw their attackers escape with a backpack containing $300,000 yuan (HK$350,000).
According to police, the two suspects, aged 24 and 29, were detained at two separate locations in Yuen Long.
As of 6pm, the pair were being held for questioning but had not been charged in relation to the theft, which happened around 8am on Fu Shing Street, near Sheung Shui MTR station. Police were still searching for several other suspects.
One female witness said three robbers approached the couple carrying knives, and the incident turned violent when the female victim began shouting for help.
“The man was being held at knife point,” she said.
A police source said the couple, a 50-year-old man and 47-year-old woman, had arrived in the city from Shenzhen via Lok Ma Chau immigration control point earlier on Tuesday, with the cash in their possession.
According to police, the three robbers assaulted the pair with knives, and took the man’s backpack with the money inside, before escaping in two cars.
The man, a visitor from the mainland, suffered injuries to his hands and legs while his wife, who holds a Hong Kong identity card, sustained minor hand injuries.
Both victims were sent to North District Hospital for treatment.
Before noon, a seven-seater car believed to have been used in the robbery was found abandoned in Tan Kwai Tsuen, Yuen Long. The village is about 20km away from the site of the incident.
Police said a backpack carrying three knives was found in a nearby refuse collection centre in the village.
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Another source said two local men had been arrested, but no money had yet been recovered.
In recent years, there have been several high-profile robberies on the street near Sheung Shui MTR station.
In January 2018, a 29-year-old mainland man had 240,000 yuan (HK$288,000) stolen by a motorcycle rider on San Fung Avenue in Sheung Shui. Police said a pillion passenger got off a motorcycle and threatened the victim with a knife, before snatching the bag containing the cash.
And in September 2017, a male passer-by foiled a US$3 million robbery and subdued one of two masked men as they attacked a middle-aged man and tried to snatch his backpack containing the money.
According to official statistics, police handled 147 reports of robbery in 2018, down 9.8 per cent compared with the previous year.
Additional reporting by Shirley Zhao
