[CONFINED: Mr Hu, the cabby who took Hong Kong's first H1N1 flu victim to a hotel.]

THE policemen stationed themselves at various parts of the carpark, their eyes peeled for any movement of the wanted man.

Their target, a cabby known only as Mr Hu, is not your usual gun-toting murderer.

Mr Hu, said to be in his 30s, was identified as the cabby who had driven Hong Kong's first Influenza A(H1N1) victim, a Mexican man, from the airport to the Metropark Hotel in Wanchai last Thursday.

He was at risk of infection and could also be passing on the deadly flu to his passengers.

The police managed to trace him through his vehicle plate number, reported Hong Kong newspapers.

Police learnt that his cab is usually parked at Heung Wo Street in Tsuen Wan, New Territories, and planned an operation to nab him on Sunday morning.

His cab being disinfected.

The moment he showed up and approached his cab, the cops swung into action.

One of them drove an unmarked car and blocked Mr Hu's exit.

At the same time, three others wearing flu masks got off their vehicle and surrounded a shocked Mr Hu.

For a moment he thought they were robbers, reported Apple Daily, until the policemen showed their identification.

As Mr Hu is a suspected flu victim, the cops kept at least 2 metres away from him and told him to get inside his cab.

Then, health officials dressed in protective gear came forward and explained to him that he needed to be checked and quarantined.

They told a reluctant Mr Hu to put on a mask and gloves and took him to a waiting ambulance and, with police escort, they took him to the hospital for a checkup.

Checks showed that Mr Hu had not shown symptoms of the H1N1 flu. He was then sent for seven days' quarantine in Lady Maclehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung.

Apple Daily reported that he did not turn himself in as he was 'afraid of trouble'.

However, he had told his taxi association that he realised through the news that the passenger he took is Hong Kong's 'patient zero'. But he was uncontactable, so the health authorities had no choice but to enlist the police's help.

After he was taken away, another group of health officials, also in full protection gear, cleaned and disinfected his cab, reported Sing Tao Daily News.

They also washed the entire stretch of road.

Meanwhile, another cabby who took the Mexican man from the hotel to the Ruttonjee hospital has also been found, reported South China Morning Post.

A spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the taxi driver, aged 47, called a hotline the centre had set up.

Like Mr Hu, the driver showed no symptoms of the flu, is now quarantined at the Lady Maclehose Holiday Village and had his cab disinfected.

Earlier, a 33-year-old man, known only as Cheung, was arrested after allegedly making a false claim that he was the driver who took the Mexican to hospital.

Cheung had not driven the Mexican, but said he had just called to test the hotline.

Since the CHP's hotline was set up last Thursday, it had received 1,056 calls.

At a press briefing on Sunday night, CHP controller Thomas Tsang Ho Fai said there were 15 new reported suspected cases requiring follow-up tests.

As of yesterday morning, 10 tested negative for the flu, while results for the remaining five were pending. The patients were in stable condition.

This article was first published in The New Paper.