Hong Kong police arrest teen, seize smoke grenades allegedly bought on Pinduoduo

Hong Kong police have arrested a 13-year-old boy and seized three suspected smoke grenades believed to have been bought on Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo after he allegedly removed the safety pin from one of them inside his flat, leading to his building being evacuated.

Police received a call at 10.38pm on Thursday that smoke could be seen coming from the flat at The Apex private housing estate on 33 Wo Yi Hop Road.

Officers at the scene seized three suspected smoke grenades from the teenager. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing explosives.

Sources told the Post that the boy bought the three smoke grenades for HK$92 (US$11.70) on the Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo on July 10 and retrieved them from a pick-up point in Hong Kong.

At about 10pm on Thursday, the boy’s mother found smoke in their flat caused by the removal of the security pin on the grenades, the source said.

The boy had decided to leave the grenades in the corridor outside the flat because of the billowing smoke that eventually filled the building, with a resident on the 48th floor alerting police, the source added.