Police have arrested a 24-year-old local man in Mong Kok after the editorial team of Sing Tao Probe, a consumer advocacy platform under Sing Tao News Corporation, received a threatening letter containing unidentified white powder on Monday.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau officers responded to the media group’s headquarters in Tseung Kwan O on Monday morning after staff discovered the suspicious correspondence. Following an initial inspection, specialists determined the white crystalline substance was non-explosive and seized it for forensic testing.
Officers from the Criminal Investigation Team, Tseung Kwan O District launched a swift investigation and arrested the suspect in Mong Kok on Monday afternoon on suspicion of criminal intimidation. He remains in police custody.
Inquiries revealed the letter was sent via ordinary mail using a folded sheet of A4 paper as an envelope, bearing a Hongkong Post postmark dated September 24. The single-page computer-printed document, written in colloquial Cantonese, expressed anger over an unpublished consumer complaint regarding a board game parlor submitted a year ago.
The sender also vented personal grievances, accusing news organizations of defaming him over alleged late-night stalking of women in Wan Tau Tong Estate and a shopping mall. He signed off with explicit threats to "execute justice," using the aliases "Tai Po Eason Chan" and "Tai Po Hins Cheung."
Sing Tao News Corporation strongly condemned any attempts to threaten press freedom and staff safety, affirming that its editorial teams will continue to report professionally and objectively without compromising under coercive tactics.
