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Task force hunts for escaped criminals

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-26 09:32

A police task force has been established to search for three fugitives who escaped from a detention center in Jieshou, Anhui province on Saturday.

Guo Bingwei, 24, Guo Wenwu, 20, and 17-year-old Liu Jiajun, overpowered six wardens after faking a fight in their cell early on Saturday morning.

A fourth man, Wang Hanyu, 24, arrested last year for masterminding a jewelry store robbery, was part of the escape plot but died after suffering fatal injuries from a metal spike when he attempted to climb the fence.

"A special team has been assigned to the case and we are devoting our full attention to it," a detention center official told China Daily yesterday, without elaborating.

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The Fuyang public security bureau has offered a 50,000 yuan ($7,100) reward for any person who comes forward with information about the men.

After overpowering the wardens, the four men climbed the gate and fence, where Wang cut the main artery in his thigh. The three uninjured men then fled.

Guo Bingwei was serving an 8-year sentence for robbery, and Guo Wenwu had been jailed for 11 years for the same crime. Liu was jailed for theft.

Guo Yonghua, Guo Bingwei's father, was "extremely upset" when told about his son's prison break and pleaded for Guo to give himself up.

"He was in school for only two years. He has been in prison several times and I didn't even know he was jailed for 8 years this time," the farmer told the paper.

Police from Jieshou and neighboring Fuyang city are continuing to search for the fugitives. There is tight security at all Jieshou checkpoints, as well as in neighboring cities.