Hong Kong police take a serious view of bomb hoaxes and all such cases will be thoroughly pursued with a view to bringing offenders to justice, the local police said on Sunday.

The warning was made following the arrest of a 31-year-old man on Sunday on suspicion of making a bomb hoax on Friday.

Police received a report at about 7:15 p.m. on June 3 that two suspicious carton boxes with some warning wordings were found on the pavement outside a shop at 118 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Swift actions were taken by police in response to the call, including cordoning off the vicinity and temporarily blocking both bounds of Nathan Road between Jordan Road and Salisbury Road.

Officers of Explosive Ordinance Disposal Bureau deployed at the scene detonated the boxes and confirmed only two bricks were inside the boxes.

The area was cordoned off for about two hours during the incident and the report was found to be a hoax.

Following extensive investigations, officers from Tsim Sha Tsui division arrested a 31-year-old man in a residential unit in Tsuen Wan on Sunday. Relevant documents related to the incident were found in the unit.

Subsequent search conducted in a commercial unit in Tsim Sha Tsui led to the seizure of materials in making the carton boxes also related to the incident.

Investigations are on-going and the man is still being detained for inquiries.

Police warned that making a bomb hoax is a serious crime and offenders upon conviction under Public Order Ordinance will be liable to a fine of 150,000 HK dollars (19,230 US dollars) and five years' imprisonment on indictment.

Source: Xinhua