Hong Kong police hunt gang after man snatched off street, assaulted, robbed and dumped by side of road 30km away
- Victim was grabbed by gang of 10 outside Langham Place shopping centre in Mong Kok on Wednesday evening
- Suspects believed to be members of Sun Yee On triad faction, and police think attack could be linked to money dispute
A suspected triad member was assaulted, bundled into a car on a busy Hong Kong street and then dumped on the side of the road 30km away after being robbed, police said on Thursday.
Officers are hunting for a gang of 10 men, believed to be members of the Sun Yee On triad faction, after a 28-year-old man was snatched off the street in front of the Langham Place shopping centre in Mong Kok.
A video clip shows the victim being beaten on Shanghai Street by up to six men, before being pushed into a seven-seater vehicle just after 9pm on Wednesday.
The assault lasted for about a minute and one of the attackers was seen using an unknown hard object to beat the victim, while several others acted as lookouts.
According to a police source, the victim and his girlfriend were shopping in the area at the time of the incident, and the man “was attacked by the gang shortly after his girlfriend walked away”.
Police said the man was driven to Tuen Mun, where he was kicked out of the vehicle near Tsing Shan Monastery. During the journey, he was robbed of his watch, mobile phone and wallet.
Emergency personnel were called soon after 11pm when an elderly man living in a nearby village found the victim by the side of the road.
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The man had suffered facial injuries and multiple abrasions over his body, and was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment.
As of 2pm on Thursday, the source said the man was not fit to be interviewed.
The source said he believed a money dispute sparked the attack and those responsible were suspected members of the Sun Yee On triad faction who are active in the New Territories.
Another source said the dispute came about when the victim found out a man had an affair with his girlfriend and demanded several thousand dollars from him. He said the victim had been attacked and abducted during a meeting to collect the money.
In 2020, police handled 1,761 reports of triad-related crimes in the city, a 30.2 per cent rise from 1,353 in 2019.
