Ex-police chief's plea against death sentence rejected

The Chongqing Higher People's Court has rejected an appeal from Wen Qiang, a former deputy police chief of the municipality, who was sentenced to death in April for taking bribes from gang leaders.

Wen's case has been the most high profile in the mainland's biggest gang crackdown. The campaign has led to the downfall of dozens of high-ranking government officials, powerful business owners and notorious gangsters implicated in corruption, gangland violence and sex crimes.

The rejection of Wen's appeal yesterday came as little surprise for many. Fireworks were set off outside the courthouse to celebrate the decision, state media reported.

On Thursday, Chongqing's municipal government announced that Chen Guangming , a decorated captain of the police narcotics team who has admitted to being Wen's mistress, had left office to take early retirement. Chen was among the thousands arrested in the anti-triad campaign in Chongqing last year. She admitted her close relationship with Wen when under investigation.

The clampdown on gang operations and official graft in Chongqing was launched last year by municipal party chief Bo Xilai, with some saying it was an attempt to raise his profile ahead of a sweeping overhaul of the mainland's top leadership in two years.

A 37-year-old man, Zhou Tao , was detained after he called the Chongqing Higher People's Court threatening to seek revenge if it upheld Wen's death sentence. Wen, 55, was convicted of amassing millions in bribes from gang members during his reign as the region's deputy police chief from 1997 and as director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau from July 2008 to his arrest in September last year.