POLICE yesterday detained a 27-year-old man in connection with two sexual assaults in Tuen Mun last week - but they have ruled out any link between him and the rape and murder of 19-year-old Ip Wing-sze.
At the same time, residents of the beleaguered Yau Oi estate, where one of the attacks took place, have decided to set up vigilante groups to protect women from further assaults.
The man was detained after he was found loitering in the lobby of Leung Shui House. He allegedly matched the description of a man thought to be responsible for sexual attacks at Tai Hing estate last Tuesday and at Yau Oi estate on Thursday.
His flat was searched and last night he remained in custody, although no charges have been laid.
Authorities have stepped up patrols in Tuen Mun since last Sunday's brutal murder, but residents at Yau Oi estate, claiming the police were still not doing enough to ensure their safety, decided last night to set up their own ''civil patrols''.
Officers strongly denied they were not doing enough and warned the vigilantes could be tempted to act illegally if they caught someone they believed had done wrong.