Taiwan police have arrested members of an underground group that made the bullets used in the election-eve shooting of Chen Shui-bian in March this year, according to Shenzhen Daily.

The arrest is the biggest breakthrough to date in the investigation into the March 19 shooting, in which Chen and running mate Annette Lu were slightly wounded while they were campaigning in an open-top jeep in the southern city of Tainan. The event is widely believed to have influenced the outcome of the hotly contested campaign.

Jenny Kuo, a prosecutor in Tainan and spokeswoman for the investigative task force, is reported to have said that the investigation was continuing as the group had sold bullets to a large number of people.

Newspapers said five members of the gang had been arrested, but Kuo would only say that several were in custody.

Hou You-yi, head of the criminal investigation bureau, said they were certain that at least one of those detained had made the bullets used in the shooting, and the others were involved in assembling guns and selling the weapons and ammunition.

No suspects for the attack have been named. Police have been unable to find the man, described as being in his 30s or 40s, who was standing in the area from which two shots are believed to have been fired from a homemade gun. The man's features are unclear in television footage of the event.

Kuo was quoted as saying, "This is very encouraging for us, given that we started the investigation with just two bullets and casings. We now feel it's possible to solve this case."

In the weeks following the March election, thousands of people in Taiwan protested the results and demanded an inquiry into the shooting, believing that it may have been staged to garner sympathy for the incumbent leader.

Chen announced in July that an independent investigative committee had been set up to look into the case, but there were widespread doubts about its validity. Many believed that its establishment was mere posturing to fend off criticism from opposition parties and the public.

(Shenzhen Daily, China.org.cn December 15, 2004)