Hong Kong police have arrested a man for allegedly making a bomb hoax threat targeting Admiralty MTR station on an online war game forum.
Inspector Luke Hung Sze-tat of the Central police district said on Saturday that officers had arrested a 31-year-old local man in his Sha Tin home on Friday evening and seized three imitation guns from the flat.
“Although the crime only involved one person, his threat to place a bomb in one of the busiest and densest MTR stations in Hong Kong prompted us to place much value on the case and to conduct the arrest swiftly,” Hung said.
The force received a report last Tuesday from two residents who alerted police that an online game player had threatened to bomb Admiralty MTR station on the first day of Lunar New Year on February 17.
Hung said officers from the uniformed patrol sub-unit, the emergency unit and counter terrorism response unit searched the station last Tuesday, but did not find any suspicious items.
Officers from the crime squad of Central police district later identified the man who posted the threat in the online wargaming chat channel by analysing online intelligence.
They arrested the man at his Sha Tin residence on Friday on suspicion of making a bomb hoax and possessing imitation firearms.
