Chongqing police investigating last month's killing of a soldier are seeking information about a suspect photographed in a military uniform - even though an officer involved in the investigation says the man has no connection with the case.
A wanted poster being used in the case shows six photographs of a man with short hair wearing the uniform of a People's Liberation Army soldier. The victim of the shooting was a PLA sentry, shot dead at his post.
The poster appears to be the latest step in a probe into the murder of the sentry, after door-to-door searches for the suspect and a reward of 600,000 yuan (HK$680,000) failed to yield any clues. Chongqing police are offering a reward for any information concerning the suspect.
However, a police officer named Mr Shi - whose mobile-phone number was included on the poster - denies there is any connection between the wanted man and the murder, according to a report on cqnews.net, which is operated by the official Chongqing Daily. Contact information for Mr Shi and another police officer was on the poster, which was reportedly posted on Tuesday.
'What people should do is just report to us anything they know about this soldier, and we will handle the rest,' Mr Shi was reported as saying. Calls to the number went unanswered last night.
On March 19, a masked gunman gunned down the PLA sentry outside his garrison and fled with the soldier's assault rifle. Authorities have classified it as an act of terrorism, and about 10,000 policemen have been working on the case.