The Ministry of Public Security?has issued a Class A
warrant targeting the arrest of a 42-year-old man suspected of
gunning down four villagers in cold blood.
Ning Yongfeng, formerly the village committee director for
Jiuzhou Village near Langfang City, Hebei Province, allegedly killed four of his
fellow villagers?with a hunting rifle at around 10 PM
Saturday, Hebei police announced. The police officially gave no
motive for the killings, while they suspect the fugitive is
armed.
A Beijing News report shed more light on the matter,
suggesting the killing could have been motivated by political
revenge. The list of newly-elected officials in the village,
bearing the names of two of the victims, was announced on Saturday
afternoon.
Ning is rumored to have recently engaged in several conflicts
with the victims and their families. Lai Xiuling, the wife of one
of the dead, recalled her husband repeatedly asking Ning for money
he owed but to no avail.
Lai also accused Ning of election rigging. "In March 2006, when
Ning was still the village head, a scheduled re-election was
canceled because a rumor surfaced he had hired goons ready to keep
us subdued."
Zhou Shupei, the Party branch secretary of Jiuzhou Village
confirmed that Ning was removed from his post this March but gave
no details about his dismissal.
Local police and media informed villagers that the killer is on
the loose and promising a reward of 50,000 yuan (US$6,580) to
anyone providing information which led to Ning's capture.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)