Reporter lost for 14 days found in police custody

By Zhang Lei (Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-16 07:46

A Beijing journalist who went missing for 14 days after going on assignment in Shanxi province, has turned up in police custody in Hebei province, media have said.

He was detained on suspicion of taking bribes, the Xinhua News Agency said on Monday.

Guan Yufei, son of the reporter Guan Jian, told China Daily that police in the city of Zhangjiakou, Hebei, called him yesterday and told them he could see his father.

"Zhangjiakou police refused to disclose any details about why he was there and how long he will remain there," he said.

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"All they said was to bring medicine for his high blood pressure and heart problem."

When asked if his father has such health problems, the son replied with a puzzled "No".

He told China Daily he will not be completely relieved until his father is released and the case is cleared.

Guan Jian, an investigative reporter for the Beijing-based China Internet Weekly, had been missing since Dec 1, Ren Pengyu, its editor-in-chief, told China Daily yesterday.

"Guan went to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, to report on land misuse involving a real estate company," he said.

Ren said he and Guan had a telephone conversation on Dec 1 when Guan was in Taiyuan. Then Guan disappeared.

Guan Yufei said he filed a report to the Taiyuan police on Dec 7 after a failed search for his father.

His family, co-workers and Shanxi police all helped to look for Guan Jian.

"Local police obtained the surveillance tape from Taiyuan Jinjiang Inn, which showed five unidentified men dragging my father into a Volkswagen Touareg and then driving away at about 6 pm on Dec 1", he said.

The Beijing News published four of the photos yesterday.

Ren said Guan was born in Shanxi and had worked there as a television reporter before moving to Beijing in 2006.