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Exclusive | Hong Kong police leaders ‘ordered Sha Tin rescue mission for besieged officers’ at New Town Plaza, where bloody clashes occurred
- More than 20 elite officers were cornered in New Town Plaza on Sunday night – suffering physical and verbal abuse, according to sources
- Nearly 100 riot police officers said to have taken 30 minutes to find their comrades and help them evacuate
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Riot police were sent to a Hong Kong shopping centre on Sunday to rescue more than 20 detectives who were surrounded by extradition bill protesters, with a confrontation between both sides ending in bloody clashes, the Post has learned.
Sources said on Wednesday top brass ordered the deployment after officers from the elite Organised Crime and Triad Bureau were cornered near the entrance of Sha Tin MTR station in New Town Plaza shopping centre on Sunday night.
The 100 officers and detectives, most in full riot gear, took about half an hour to reach their besieged colleagues who were being heaped with verbal abuse and projectiles, according to the sources.
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Among the police reinforcements was a sergeant who had part of his finger bitten off and a constable who was kicked down an escalator and assaulted. A number of other officers sent on the rescue mission also ended up clashing with protesters, a law enforcement source said.
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The violence broke out after another squad of riot police was deployed to disperse hundreds of protesters who had set up barricades at the junction of Yuen Wo Road and Sha Tin Rural Committee Road at 9.30pm – hours after a stand-off.
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