Hong Kong police have arrested two more people linked to an alleged murder involving a financial dispute over illicit cigarettes, days after the victim’s body was discovered under a bridge in the city.
The force said on Thursday that the arrests were made the day before, bringing the total number of arrestees to 15.
The two men arrested are 27 and 29 years old, respectively. The younger one is charged with assisting an offender and will appear in Fanling Court on Friday, while the older man remains in custody for murder.
On Thursday, officers also brought one male suspect to several crime scenes for further investigation.
In addition, the force laid holding charges against another man and a woman on suspicion of assisting offenders in the murder case. The pair, both aged 62, appeared at Fanling Court on Thursday morning.
A total of 13 people were arrested in connection with the case earlier.
Three men aged 33 to 48 had been charged with conspiracy to murder.
A 25-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man had each been charged with assisting an offender and will also appear in court on Friday.
The remaining six suspects have been released on bail and must report to police in mid-September.
Police previously said the victim, aged 51, was driving his seven-seater home to San Sang Tsuen in Yuen Long when two vehicles intercepted him early on Monday.
He tried to escape but was chased by 10 people, with one threatening him with a blade before another attacked him with a knife.
The man was then forced back into his vehicle and was believed to have lost a lot of blood from a head wound behind his right ear.
He was believed to have died in the seven-seater before having his body dumped under the bridge above Yick Yuen Road. The body was discovered later by a passer-by.
A male relative of the deceased was also forcibly taken from the victim’s home and held captive. He later managed to escape and contacted police.
The force escorted the male suspect to a crime scene earlier in the day. He had a tattoo on his left forearm and wore glasses, with his face covered and his waist secured by a metal chain held by a policeman at all times.
He showed police how he used the knife to attack the victim in the back of his neck, while the force used a doll to act as the victim.
The entire re-enactment took about 15 minutes and was recorded by the force.
A source earlier told the Post that the victim was identified as Hong Kong identity card holder Zeng Pengshan.
Police said the victim was suspected of having been involved in a financial dispute linked to illicit cigarettes.
The Post earlier learned that the victim was a construction worker who helped to deliver illicit cigarettes and was suspected of making off with HK$4 million (US$513,000) worth of product after failing to get his promised reward, resulting in the confrontation.
The 13 suspects, comprising 10 men and three women aged 25 to 66, were arrested in various locations on Monday and Tuesday on suspicion of murder, illegal detention, assisting an offender, drug possession and resisting arrest.
Two of them were intercepted at the airport before they could board a plane. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
