HONG KONG -- Hong Kong police said on Sunday that during an arrest operation in a store at Sai Ying Pun Saturday afternoon, suspected counterfeit press cards and suspected offensive weapons were seized.

Speaking at a press conference, Chief Inspector (Crime) of Western District Ng Kei-chun said that six men and two women were also arrested for possessing offensive weapons.

During the arrest operation, 12 press cards were seized, three of which contained personal data matching those of the three arrested persons, said Ng.

However, initial probes by the police found no information available about the media organizations on the press cards.

The police had also seized suspected assault weapons including axes, steel balls, steel ball launchers and corrosive liquids, said Ng.

Noting that in recent protests, some radical protesters had used corrosive liquids against police officers, Ng said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects were making offensive weapons.