TAIPEI, April 16 – Two men suspected of planting suitcases loaded with petrol on a high-speed train in Taiwan have been arrested in China, police said Tuesday.

The Taiwanese pair were arrested in the southeastern Chinese city of Zuhai and will be extradited back to Taiwan soon, said an official at the Criminal Investigation Bureau who asked not to be named.

He declined to go into specifics about the arrest.

The incident happened on Friday when two unattended suitcases were found on board a train bound for Taipei, prompting the evacuation of more than 600 passengers.

Two other suitcases, also containing petrol, were found in lawmaker Lu Chia-chen's office in New Taipei city. Police were treating the two incidents as connected.

After discovering the two suitcases on the train, rail operator Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. evacuated passengers at Taoyuan station near Taipei and police removed the bags for investigation.

Officers searched the train for evidence and the platform for Taipei-bound trains was temporarily closed, the company said.

It said it had not received any threats prior to the incident.