Hong Kong/Ching (16/12). In another successful arrests by Hong Kong Police officers another terror cell was arrested on Saturday and bombs were discovered and disarmed on Sunday. A contractor suffered facial injuries after an electricity meter exploded at the Cross Harbour Tunnel Administration Building exploded. Hong Kong police did not comment if the explosion was accidental or not.
The significance of the arrests can not be underestimated. Police is in a race to dismantle the structures of extremists who were plotting to shoot protesters and police officers alike in a plot to spread hate in Hong Kong.
“This is the most serious plot in contemporary times”, said a senior police officers. The attacks on innocent citizen departed from the routine rioting. An off duty police officer was attacked and a citizen disagreeing with the extremist ideology was set on fire.
Yesterday at around 1pm today, residents of Tai Wong Ha Tsuen in Tsing Yi found a suspected bomb left behind inside a flower trough. They immediately called the police who subsequently cordoned off the area. Officers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau were at the scene to handle the situation.
Bomb disposal robot was deployed to detonate the bomb which contained 6 D Size batteries. Police then took away the batteries for investigation.
The arrests came after a series of discovery by Hong Kong Police of an armed cell plotting to shoot protesters and police officer alike to cause death and chaos during mass protests.
You still call it “peaceful protest”? #HongKong police just found and seize a large quantity of weapon and explosives including pistol with over 100 live bullets ahead of Sunday protest. Police intelligence says rioters planned to use them attack police officers, create chaos. pic.twitter.com/UC6WjSxjsS
— Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) December 8, 2019
The disarming of the bomb followed arrests of three men on Saturday (Dec 14) for testing homemade explosives that they suspect were intended for use during protests.
The men were arrested in Tuen Mun and police seized chemicals, suspected explosives and remote controls, similar to what had been found in previous cases.
Police from Organised Crime and Triad Bureau received tip-off and waited at EcoPark located in Tuen Mun Area 38, on West side of Hong Kong this morning. Three men then appeared to conduct a detonation test of a remote-controlled bomb and they were immediately arrested. One of the suspects was a laboratory assistant from a local high school while the other two men were unemployed.
Defensive equipment used during the test were also found, including a bulletproof steel plate and a gas mask.
Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the organized crime and triad bureau, said the test was designed to improve the performance of explosives for possible attacks in processions and assemblies in the future.
The arrests are the latest in a rash of explosives-related cases police say they have uncovered since protests erupted in June over a proposed extradition law and snowballed into an anti-government movement.
On Monday, police said they defused two homemade bombs packed with nails.
In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kg of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide.
Other recent seizures involved smaller amounts of the explosive.
In Hong Kong, causing an explosion that is likely to endanger life or property is a serious offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.