Tear gas fired at Hong Kong protesters

Kong, March 22 (IANS) A demonstration by more than 100 people to mark eight months since the mob beatings in Hong Kongs Yuen Long area led to protesters blocking roads and starting a small fire, as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, a media report said on Sunday.

The rally on Saturday night centred on the events of last July 21, 2019 when a group of white-clad men wielding metal rods and wooden poles attacked protesters and commuters indiscriminately at the district’s MTR station and on a train, injuring 45, the South China Morning Post said in the report.

As the demonstration gaind momentum, the participants started a fire and blocked some roads in the Tai Ton district, prompting officers to rush to the area soon later at night to disperse the crowd.

Members of police’s Special Tactical Squad, known as Raptors, subdued at least two people.

By January, a total of 37 people had been arrested for their alleged roles in the Yuen Long attack, seven of whom were charged with rioting.

Police have said they were continuing to collect evidence.

By the early hours of Sunday, clashes were still ongoing between protesters and riot police in Yuen Long, with pepper spray deployed by officers to disperse crowds as angry crowds shouted at them.

Since June 2019, Hong Kong has been gripped by often-violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police, sparked by a piece of extradition legislation which officials have since withdrawn.

–IANS

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