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Tom Shuai

Emily Hung

Parents near a Hong Kong shopping centre where a three-year-old boy was snatched in broad daylight for what was said to be an HK$5.1 million ransom said the incident had left them fearful and determined to keep a close eye on their own children.
Parents who live near TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O, the scene of Wednesday’s abduction, told the Post they were shocked by the news and that they had never heard of a similar case in the city before.
Ke Jinyi, a 29-year-old mother who said she often took her nine-month-old boy to TKO Plaza, said on Thursday that she would be more cautious because of the incident.
“As far as I know, Hong Kong has never had such a case before,” Ke said.
She added that the city’s reputation for safety could cause parents to drop their guard.
“Parents could be less vigilant in a safe society like Hong Kong,” Ke suggested.
She added that the shopping centre should install extra CCTV cameras to reduce the risk of further abductions.
A 70-year-old woman, who identified herself only by the surname Ling, said she would never leave her five-year-old grandson alone in public.
“I have to ask his parents to be more alert in the future,” she said.
But a 36-year-old mother, who took her six-year-old son to TKO Plaza a day after the kidnapping, said she was not worried.
“The chance [of being abducted] is very low in Hong Kong,” said the woman, who gave only the surname Gong. “But you need to keep an eye on your children all the time when in some places like shopping malls.”
The parents were speaking after police rescued the kidnapped boy from a flat in Tseung Kwan O about 12 hours after he was taken.

The child had been hidden in a stroller then stuffed into a suitcase by his captors.
Two women, one from mainland China with a two-way permit, were arrested by police in connection with the incident.
The boy was with his mother, family members and other children when he was snatched.
An image captured from surveillance camera footage of the abduction, contact information of the suspects, a ransom note, and screenshots of conversations with the kidnappers over the money, went viral on LIHKG, an online Reddit-like forum.
Some users claimed to have sent messages to the suspect through the messaging service Telegram.
The news made LIHKG take down the contact information and the screenshots and it appealed to users to stop posting the details on humanitarian grounds.
Some comments that exposed sensitive information were also removed, and some users were temporarily banned. But the comments were restored about noon on Thursday.
The information was also posted on Facebook, but was taken down for violating community guidelines.
Chief Superintendent Kwan King-pan of the organised crime and triad bureau said the information circulated online had not hindered police.
“There is a free flow of information in Hong Kong – it’s common for people to search for a missing person or object online, and netizens will often respond actively,” he said on Thursday.
“This scenario also happened in this case, but it did not affect our investigation.
“Now we will focus on investigating the two women arrested to uncover more evidence.”


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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong parents vow to be more vigilant after 3-year-old snatched in alleged HK$5.1 million ransom plot

A CCTV image of a three-year-old boy being snatched from a Hong Kong shopping centre. Photo: FACEBOOK/ Vanessa Chan

TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O, the scene of the Wednesday kidnap of a little boy. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hong Kong boy, 3, stuffed into suitcase after being snatched in mall in HK$5.1 million kidnap case, police say

Police received reports a boy was forcibly taken from TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O on Wednesday. Photo: Facebook/Vanessa Chan

One of the suspects is taken to hospital on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Jelly Tse

Superintendent Chau Ka-man (left), Chief Superintendent Kwan King-pan and Chief Inspector Wong Chi-yu reveal details about the kidnapping case. Photo: Elson Li

A woman’s abduction from a busy Hong Kong street revives memories of past kidnappings, including when tycoons were targets for notorious gangsters

The dramatic moment when a woman was bundled into a van outside Stanley Prison in 2022 as a prison officer tries to intervene. Photo: Handout

Police arrested three people on Tuesday in connection with the abduction of a woman from the busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district a day earlier. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Kidnap victim Queenie Rosita Law, the granddaughter of textiles tycoon Law Ting-pong, speaks to the media at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central after she was released by kidnappers in return for a HK$28 million ransom. Photo: David Wong

Notorious gangster “Big Spender” Cheung Tze-keung’s is escorted to a Chinese court in 1998. Photo: Handout

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Parents near TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O, the kidnap scene, say they are shocked by news, but that such cases are rare in Hong Kong


Parents near TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O, the kidnap scene, say they’re shocked by news, but that such cases are rare in Hong Kong.


Hong Kong police

Crime

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