Citywide manhunt after masked men launch petrol bomb attack on home of Hong Kong media mogul and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai
- Security camera captures moment men threw petrol bombs at house on Kadoorie Avenue in Ho Man Tin
- Lai was previously target of triad assassination plot
Police are looking for two masked men who hurled petrol bombs at the residence of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in an attack in the early hours of Thursday.
The bombs exploded on the driveway outside the tycoon’s house on Kadoorie Avenue, Ho Man Tin. Police and fire officers were called at 1.20am after being called by Lai’s security guard, who doused the flames.
No one was injured in the attack. The Apple Daily newspaper Lai founded reported he was inside the house at the time of the attack, but police sources said detectives had not yet been able to contact him.
Police said security cameras filmed two men wearing dark T-shirts arriving on a motorbike, stopping 20 metres from the house.
Footage posted online showed one of the men throw the petrol bombs outside the house, while the other used a mobile phone to record the act.
After the attack, the two culprits ran back to the motorbike and sped away before police arrived. Officers mounted a search, but no arrests were made.
Another police source believed the attack was a warning rather than an attempt to cause any damage or hurt anyone.
Lai is the founder of media giant Next Digital and Apple Daily, which is published in Hong Kong and Taiwan and is known for its pro-democracy stance.
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It is not the first time the tycoon’s personal safety has been threatened. In 2015, a masked man hurled a Molotov cocktail at the front gate of his home, and in 2013, the same gate was rammed with a car before an axe and a machete were placed on the driveway.
Ten years ago, a mainland Chinese man was jailed for 16 years for plotting to shoot Lai, and former Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming. The man was caught at a Mong Kok police roadblock with a gun, bullets, and personal information about the pair.
Three triad leaders, along with seven other triad members, were subsequently arrested in mainland China for their roles in the attempted assassination.
The 10 were found guilty in a Shenzhen court in 2009 and sentenced to between three and 18 years in jail.
The Shenzhen court heard in 2009 that a Hong Kong businessman living in Taiwan put up a US$1 million bounty to have Lai and Lee shot.
In 2008, a tree outside Lai’s home was set alight. Police said three bottles filled with fuel had been placed in a plastic bag, positioned on the tree, and then set alight, causing a small explosion.
