Fingerprints retrieved from robber who shot sentry dead

By Tan Yingzi in Chongqing and Hu Yinan in Beijing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-23 19:31

Chongqing police just retrieved fingerprints from the robber who shot dead a teenage soldier at an army barracks and stole his assault rifle last Thursday, an inside source told China Daily late Monday evening.

"The attacker searched the victim's body for bullets after (s)he shot him; that's how (s)he left the fingerpoints," the source said.

The police had begun a door-to-door investigation, as a citywide manhunt enters its fifth day after a robber shot dead a teenage soldier at an army barracks and stole his loaded assault rifle.

It was confirmed that the victim, identified by security forces as 18-year-old Han Junliang, was shot in the chest with a pistol by an attacker who wore a hoodie at about 7:40 pm on Thursday, an inside source told China Daily.

The assailant first fired at the sky to attract Han's attention. After that, the attacker walked up to Han, shot him twice and then took his assault rifle, according to the source.

A task-force police car patrols on the street in Chongqing Friday night after a robber shot dead a teenage soldier at an army barracks and stole his sub-machine gun, March 20, 2009. [cqwb.com.cn]

The robbed rifle, a type 81-1, "was loaded", the source said, adding that military sentries are normally unarmed.

The type 81-1, modeled on the AK-series rifles, can be loaded with up to 30 rounds.

At the time of the attack, Han, a native of Shandong province, was standing guard at the People's Liberation Army garrison in the downtown area of Chongqing, China's fourth largest city. He died in hospital later that evening.

The case is under investigation as a possible act of terrorism. Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu flew to Chongqing on Saturday night and is overseeing searches for the killer, conducted by a joint work team of police and military staff.

An award of 300,000 yuan (US$43,900) has been offered by police for meaningful clues to the attacker, Chongqing public security bureau spokesman Liu Kun was earlier quoted as saying.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the killer might be an ethnic Tibetan, the inside source told China Daily, noting that a number of Tibetan separatists had sneaked into town from Chengdu and were attempting to stage a bombing in downtown Chongqing.

"The attack was only a signal, a show-off," the source said. "After all, there is no point in robbing a gun from an army sentry."

Chongqing municipality, which according to local police had "become a passage for illegal firearms trafficking", destroyed four underground weapon arsenals only two months ago as part of a high-profile crackdown on guns.

The stockpiled firearms, as well as 10 weapon stores, were discovered in border areas near Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces in an operation on Jan 9 that involved more than 1,000 police officers. Several dozen suspects were detained, the police said, without giving an exact number.

Chongqing has also just started its most ambitious anti-crime campaign over the weekend, which involves more than 10,000 police officers over six months.

With a population of more than 30 million, Chongqing is an important industrial and commercial hub in southwest China.