THE main suspect in connection with the acid attack on Hong Kong prosecutor Neil Mitchell in 2009 was handed over by Guangdong police to their Hong Kong counterparts in Shenzhen on Monday.

The 41-year-old Hongkonger, surnamed Chim, was escorted from a detention center in Shenzhen and handed over at the Huanggang-Lok Ma Chau border crossing at 3 p.m. Monday.

When the attack took place, Mitchell, then 52, was the prosecutor in a money-laundering and fraud case against solicitor Kevin Kong Hon-yui, who was jailed for six years in 2009.

The attorney was on a lunch break outside the District Court in Wan Chai when a brownish-black liquid — later confirmed to be diluted sulfuric acid — was thrown in his face, while more splashed on his shirt as he tried to wipe it off.

Hong Kong police have arrested 17 suspects, including two who were caught with the help of mainland police.

Nine have been prosecuted and convicted by the High Court in Hong Kong. They received jail sentences of nine to 15 years.

However, the main suspect, Chim, who was responsible for hiring the attackers, had remained on the run.

Chim was nabbed in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in November last year, after about seven years on the run.

Chim’s case was the second time in six days that a suspect wanted by Hong Kong police was sent over the border by mainland authorities after being arrested on the mainland. Last Wednesday, another Hong Kong resident, 29, accused of murdering Dragonair flight attendant Arbe Chan Man-yin in 2013, was sent back to Hong Kong.

Chim is also one of 175 suspects wanted by Hong Kong police who have been handed over by Guangdong authorities since 2000. (Han Ximin)

(Editor Lily A)

Editor:Lily A