Hong Kong police arrest 6 alleged attackers after man hacked to death, woman beaten unconscious in gambling den ambush
- Couple were looking for a woman in Mong Kok flat to try to recover HK$100,000
- They were attacked over one-minute period with knives, chairs and metal rods by a group of seven to eight men after entering the premises
Hong Kong police on Saturday arrested a sixth suspect in connection with a murder case in which a 46-year-old man was hacked to death and his girlfriend beaten unconscious in a gambling den in the space of a minute the previous day.
Revealing case details, the force said officers arrested a 34-year-old man in Mong Kok at around 8pm on Saturday as he was suspected to have attacked the victims.
Superintendent Alan Chung said the two victims arrived at an illegal gambling den in a Portland Street flat in Mong Kok at around midnight on Friday. They became involved in a dispute with two suspects over financial problems.
“One suspect immediately called several attackers to the scene. A few minutes later, eight attackers arrived in two cars and entered the flat,” Chung said.
“They immediately attacked the two victims with knives and hard objects and then fled. The entire attack lasted one minute.”
Hong Kong police arrest 22 in raid on gambling den, issue HK$110,000 in fines
The five other suspects – three men and two women, aged 20 to 34 – were still being detained by police on Saturday after being arrested a day earlier. Chung said four were held being for murder while the other was arrested for assisting criminals. Police expected to lay charges on them.
One of the men was picked up at Hong Kong airport on Friday evening. He had tried to flee to Thailand and was intercepted by police before he approached the airport’s immigration counter, the Post learned. Chung said the suspect was holding a one-way flight ticket.
He said the main suspect, 37, was arrested for murder at the flat at 9am on Friday as officers believed he was at the scene at the time of the alleged crime and commanded the attack.
The couple had gone to the premises to look for a woman in an attempt to collect more than HK$100,000 (US$13,000) she owed them, according to the force. The Post learned the flat was used as a gambling den equipped with fishing games used by patrons for betting.
Once the pair entered the premises, they were attacked by a group of seven to eight men with knives, chairs and metal rods, a police spokesman said on Friday.
He said the 59-year-old woman was beaten unconscious with a chair in the attack.
When she regained consciousness, about an hour later, she found her lover had been slashed. She called police soon after 12.30am.
According to the force, the man was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where he later died. His girlfriend was sent to the same hospital for treatment for a head injury.
Chung said officers recovered two cars in Ma Yau Tong and Tai Kwok Tsui on Saturday, and that officers were looking for the attackers who were still at large.
The Post learned that the woman who owed the pair money was an alleged drug trafficker and a regular customer in the gambling den. She was not in the gambling venue at the time of the attack.
Crime-squad officers are investigating whether she orchestrated the attack. The attackers were believed to be members of the 14K triad gang.
2 fall to their deaths during gambling den raid in Hong Kong
Detectives from the Kowloon West regional crime unit have checked footage of surveillance cameras at the scene in the morning to gather evidence. Officers also checked rubbish bins on the street and a nearby alley in an effort to find any weapons left behind by the attackers.
In the first three months of this year, police handled seven murder cases, up from four in the same period last year. There were 23 reports of murders in 2021.
