A former senior Communist Party official in Chongqing died on Saturday, according to an online news portal run by the municipality, and a deputy of its People's Congress said in a posting that he had taken his own life.
A Chongqing-based source close to the municipal government, who declined to be identified, also told the South China Morning Post that Shui Zhengkuan had killed himself, though the reasons remained unknown.
This was the latest incident to hit the southwestern municipality, which has been embroiled in political uncertainty since its deputy mayor and former police chief was put under investigation early last month amid defection concerns after spending one day in the US consulate in Chengdu .
Cqnews.net, a news portal affiliated with the publicity department of the Communist Party's Chongqing Municipal Committee, reported that a memorial committee issued a statement yesterday saying that Shui, a former deputy chairman of the municipality's People's Congress Standing Committee, died on Saturday at the age of 72.
When asked by phone for details surrounding the death, a staff member with the memorial committee said he did not know how Shui died.
Chongqing People's Congress deputy Zhang Mingyu wrote on his Sina Weibo account yesterday: 'Shui Zhengkuan, former member of the Communist Party's Chongqing Municipal Committee, committed suicide in a luxury villa area for high-ranking officials in the municipality at noon on Saturday.'