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)