Hong Kong police hunt four suspects after homes, cars owned by New Territories village head and family vandalised
- The attack, which took place at around 4am, saw three houses doused with paint and a trio of vehicles splashed with corrosive fluid
- According to 73-year-old To Siu-lam, previous victim of a knife attack, it marks the fourth time his family’s homes have been targeted in recent years
A police manhunt is under way after the gates and doors of three houses belonging to a Hong Kong village head and his family were doused with paint on Wednesday.
Three cars owned by To Siu-lam, the village representative for Tuen Mun San Tsuen in the New Territories, and his family members were also splashed with corrosive fluid during the incident, which happened shortly before 4am.
It was the fifth attack To, 73, has experienced in recent years.
He said he was injured in a knife attack about four years ago and paint has been poured on his village house three previous times. He said police had made arrests but no one was prosecuted.
To said he believed the incidents were linked and showed a “brazen disregard for the law”, but he stopped short of offering a possible motive for the attacks
The latest case came to light when neighbours informed him of the damage at around 8am on Wednesday.
Officers arrived at the scene off Lam Tei Main Street in Tuen Mun shortly after he called police at around 8.42am.
According to police, three cars were splashed with corrosive fluid and the main gates and walls of three village houses were doused with different colours of paint. No one was injured in the incident.
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According to the village head, the houses – one of which he lived in – belonged to his family. He also said he owned one of the involved vehicles.
To said security camera footage showed the attack occurred just before 4am and at least four men clad in black and wearing masks were involved.
Asked whether he would ask police to step up patrols or enhance security around his home, he said: “It is not necessary. I have nothing to fear.”
A police spokesman said the case had been classified as criminal damage.
Officers from the Tuen Mun criminal investigation unit are investigating the attack. So far, no arrests have been made.
Between January and October of 2020, police handled 5,375 reports of criminal damage across the city, down 2.1 per cent from 5,491 in the same period of 2019.
