New Delhi, July 16 -- Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, local media reported Wednesday, in the latest step targeting independent booksellers.

Videos and photos from multiple media outlets showed officers wearing vests marked with "Police" seizing boxes from the building housing Have A Nice Stay, a bookshop founded by former journalists. A bookseller was seen being taken away.

A few streets away a similar scene played out, with boxes taken from the building housing Greenfield Book Store, according to a video by online news outlet The Collective.

Police later said they raided two stores in Mong Kok district, without identifying them. They ar...