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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Home explosives lab suspect revealed to be a university graduate
A 31-year-old computer technician arrested earlier upon seizure of explosive materials was a university graduate, whose messages in a Telegram group were suspected of involving illegal actions, which drew the attention of police.
The computer technician and his parents were arrested on Monday for attempting to make bombs powerful enough to cause death and injuries and inciting people to cause grievous bodily harm to others in the wake of a police raid on a flat at a Wong Tai Sin public rental housing estate that housed a chemical laboratory.
According to his neighbor, the arrested, known as Ah Ming, lived there with his parents for about 30 years. His eldest sister who worked as a civil servant had moved out years ago, while another sister was "kicked out" by the father for "having gone bad".
The neighbor said ah Ming used to visit them when he was younger but became more introverted after he grew up and seldom said hi to them anymore.
He was not able to get into his preferred university due to examination results in form six but was eventually admitted by a prestigious university after two years' effort. The neighbor thought that he was a progressive young man and said he did not expect him to be arrested.
As for the arrested parents, the father was said to be an electrical technician and raised three children with his wife, who owned a convenience store in Shek Kip Mei.
A neighbor said he saw many plainclothes police officers outside the arrestees' place at around 7am on Monday, then a large number of officers stayed at the flat until 4am on Tuesday, during which they seized plenty of items.
Although the neighbors knew that a crime had occurred, they did not expect it to involve explosives. Some of them said it was fortunate that the police found it out in time, otherwise they would definitely have been affected if there was an accidental explosion.
It was understood that the 31-year-old arrested Cheung X Ming has no previous criminal record and had drawn the attention of the police after posting in a Telegram group involving illegal intentions.
The group still saw many messages as of Tuesday, among which some discussed "armed construction", some said "kill the police", and some uploaded videos of a police officer being stabbed in Causeway Bay on July 1 last year.
However, the messages of the man could no longer be found, and the group admin also announced to cease operation starting last July, and "the database of the group has been transferred".
The admin called on others in the group to move to another one "to continue to discuss state secrets".
According to his neighbor, the arrested, known as Ah Ming, lived there with his parents for about 30 years. His eldest sister who worked as a civil servant had moved out years ago, while another sister was "kicked out" by the father for "having gone bad".
The neighbor said ah Ming used to visit them when he was younger but became more introverted after he grew up and seldom said hi to them anymore.
He was not able to get into his preferred university due to examination results in form six but was eventually admitted by a prestigious university after two years' effort. The neighbor thought that he was a progressive young man and said he did not expect him to be arrested.
As for the arrested parents, the father was said to be an electrical technician and raised three children with his wife, who owned a convenience store in Shek Kip Mei.
A neighbor said he saw many plainclothes police officers outside the arrestees' place at around 7am on Monday, then a large number of officers stayed at the flat until 4am on Tuesday, during which they seized plenty of items.
Although the neighbors knew that a crime had occurred, they did not expect it to involve explosives. Some of them said it was fortunate that the police found it out in time, otherwise they would definitely have been affected if there was an accidental explosion.
It was understood that the 31-year-old arrested Cheung X Ming has no previous criminal record and had drawn the attention of the police after posting in a Telegram group involving illegal intentions.
The group still saw many messages as of Tuesday, among which some discussed "armed construction", some said "kill the police", and some uploaded videos of a police officer being stabbed in Causeway Bay on July 1 last year.
However, the messages of the man could no longer be found, and the group admin also announced to cease operation starting last July, and "the database of the group has been transferred".
The admin called on others in the group to move to another one "to continue to discuss state secrets".
