Hong Kong protests: student arrested in connection with earlier discovery of two home-made bombs at school campus
- Police say they seized a batch of circuit boards that were of a similar design to those installed in two remote-controlled devices found in December
- Postsecondary student was picked up at Sau Mau Ping Estate after a four-month investigation
A 20-year-old postsecondary student has been arrested in connection with the manufacture of two powerful home-made bombs that were hidden on a Hong Kong school campus in December, police say.
At the man’s home, officers seized a batch of circuit boards that were of a similar design to those installed in the two remote-controlled devices that contained 10kg (22 pounds) of explosives in total, said Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the organised crime and triad bureau on Wednesday.
“The function of the circuit board is to receive a mobile phone signal and convert the signal into electrical current,” he said. “Going through a resistor, the current will generate heat that detonates the explosives.”
He said the HMTD, or hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, found in the bombs was the type of explosive that would be detonated by heat or flames.
According to police, investigations revealed a gang of would-be bombers made contact through social media in a conspiracy to manufacture explosives amid months of anti-government protests in the city.