China's Ministry of Public Security has issued a warrant for the
arrest of a 32-year-old man in eastern Jiangxi Province who escaped
from a county jail with seven others three weeks ago.
The fugitive, Ma Zhiqiang, was among eight prisoners who broke
out of jail in Xingguo county in the early hours on October 30. The
other seven have already been caught by police, the ministry
said.
Three of the jail-breakers were found the same day and another
three were nabbed a day later. The seventh was arrested at a shoe
factory in Guangdong on November 7.
The ministry did not reveal details of how the prisoners managed
to escape but media reports said the eight criminal suspects
attacked a warden, took his keys and then fooled the guards by
pretending to carry out assigned work outside the detention
center.
China News Service quoted sources with the police as saying that
the warden of the county jail had been sacked.
The news agency's report said the case had drawn serious concern
from the public security authorities as it was "very rare" in China
to have such a large number of escapees.
Ma was arrested at the end of last year for stealing and selling
equipment and materials from large transformer substations. He has
been held in jail ever since awaiting trial.
Police said Ma was 165 centimeters tall and had tattoos on the
back of his left hand and wrist. A reward of 10,000 yuan (1,350
U.S. dollars) has been offered for information leading to his
arrest.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2007)