'Police Said Water Cannon Officer Was Inexperienced'

Businessman Mohan Chugani said on Tuesday that a police official told him that officers who operated the water cannon that sprayed blue dye at Kowloon Mosque may not have been experienced enough.

Briefing the media along with lawmaker Jeremy Tam and businessman Philip Khan – who were also hit by the dye on Sunday – Chugani said deputy police commissioner Tang Ping-keung had called him to offer an apology over the incident.

He said during the conversation Tang had told him that the officer who handled the water cannon may not have been experienced enough. Chugani said he told the official they need to deploy experienced officers to operate the machines.

Chugani said he accepts the apologies offered by officials in principle, but he wanted to set the record straight that they were not protesters and he was just a civilian who happened to be there.

Jeremy Tam questioned why police didn't arrest them if they thought they were mobs and noted that officials only apologised to mosque leaders and Chugani.

The lawmaker accused the police of abusing the use of water cannons and said the officers may have violated relevant guidelines.

He and others who were sprayed by the blue dye have lodged a complaint with the police.