Three senior judicial officials are under investigation for allegedly protecting criminal gangs, it has been reported.

Peng Changjian, former deputy director of the Chongqing municipal public security bureau; Zhao Wenrui, deputy head of Beibei district, and Mao Jianping, deputy chief prosecutor for the municipal procuratorate, were placed under shuanggui by the Communist Part of China (CPC) Central Committee's discipline enforcement agency on Friday, Wuhan Evening News reported.

Under shuanggui, a Party member is asked to confess to wrongdoings at a stipulated place and time.

It is the latest development in the municipality's ambitious crackdown on organized crime. More than 1,500 suspected gang leaders and members, along with more than 50 government officials, including Wen Qiang, ex-director of the Chongqing judicial bureau, have been detained since June.

The newspaper reported that Peng, formerly Wen's subordinate, acted as a "protective umbrella" for gangs.

"He definitely has a good relationship with the gang heads in the central city area," a source told the newspaper.

Peng was deputy head of Yuzhong district public security bureau before 2006 and the source said his detention was "bad news" for his former colleagues.

This year, Peng led a campaign to increase public safety in which 15 people were arrested and 79 were detained. It led to the seizure of 345 illegal firearms and nearly 20,000 kg of explosives.

He was also in charge of the examination in which 31 anti-terrorist police officers were elected for the city in 2006. Mao Jianping, meanwhile, was a respected official that worked on several big corruption cases and received awards for his service. He was elected to the national specialist panel, which is in charge of prosecuting difficult judicial cases, in 2006.

Police have investigated more than 1,200 crimes by organized gangs and confiscated more than 4 billion yuan ($580 million) in cash over the last three years, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

More than 89,000 suspected gangsters have been detained and 13,000 gangs were smashed, said Liao Jinrong, deputy director of the ministry's criminal investigation bureau.

(China Daily September 7, 2009)