Reports have emerged about a new tactic employed by thieves in Hong Kong, which involve one person rubbing a target’s foot while an accomplice picks the distracted victim’s pockets.
At around 4pm yesterday, a 60-year-old man taking the East Rail from Tai Wai towards the mainland was reportedly followed by two South Asian men onto his train. The 60-year-old, surnamed Cheung, says one of the men then bent down to rub his right foot, while the other surreptitiously nicked a stack of banknotes totalling RMB5000 (HKD5943) from his left trouser pocket, Oriental Daily reports.
The two men then reportedly ran off the train just before the doors closed. Cheung, who couldn’t get off the train in time, disembarked at Sha Tin and returned to Tai Wai Station to report the incident.
Police have obtained CCTV footage from the station to aid their investigation, but so far have arrested no suspects.
Another similar incident was reported on the Island Line on Wednesday, when a businessman was reportedly robbed of nearly HKD80,000 in cash.
The businessman claims that two South Asian men wearing masks and hats approached him when an eastbound train was nearing Wan Chai. One of the men reportedly bent down and attempted to take off the businessman’s shoe while speaking in a foreign language, while his accomplice stole HKD78,800 in cash from his pocket.
Again, the men reportedly disembarked the train just before the doors closed, and were not caught.
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