Epidemic measures flush out fugitives

Close management in communities and villages to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak has led to the surrender and capture of fugitive suspects across the country.

In Alshaa League, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, a man suspected of killing three people was captured on Feb 9 after he refused to provide his ID card during a health check in a community, according to the local police station.

The suspect, surnamed Hu, admitted to police that he killed three members of a family in 2000 and fled from his hometown in Henan province. He had been on the run since then, using a fake ID card.

Police caught another suspect as they assisted community staff in distributing alcohol disinfectant among residents on Feb 3 in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, the Harbin Public Security Bureau said.

A man opened the door and looked slightly alarmed when he saw several policemen outside. At the request of police, the man, surnamed Tian, showed his ID card and admitted he was a fugitive.

Police had issued a wanted notice for Tian, who was accused of falsely issuing tax invoices worth 1.5 billion yuan ($215 million) in 2013.

Tian said that he had returned home to escape the epidemic. He is now under criminal detention, and the case is under further investigation.

Some fugitives have chosen to turn themselves in.

On Jan 31, a suspect from Pingdingshan, Henan province, turned himself in after being on the run for 11 years and is now under detention in Linfen, Shanxi province, according to a statement on the local authority's Sina Weibo account.

Ge Jianhua said he has had no earnings since the outbreak after local police stepped up inspections over coal mines, construction sites and hotels.

"I have no food to eat and haven't slept for days," Ge said. "I had to choose to confess."

According to the statement, Ge is suspected of killing a person and injuring another in 2009.

On Feb 11, a telecom fraud suspect surnamed Fan turned himself in at a police station in Yicheng, Shanxi province, after cycling 200 kilometers, according to the police station's microblog.

Liu Wei, a policeman in Yicheng, said Fan had tried to ride a bicycle along pathways between Shanxi's Jincheng and Yicheng to avoid traffic control officers, but eventually he gave up because he had no other option.

"I was afraid of the patrolling policemen and traffic control in different areas and had no opportunity to live in a hotel (because his ID card would be checked). I had to confess," the suspect said.

Liu said: "Because now local communities all have strict control and prevention measures, we keep patrolling around. The suspects are under strong pressure, having nowhere to rest, and eventually chose to confess."

In addition, pyramid scheme participants found only policemen and local community administrators could give them the hope of a future during the ongoing campaign.

On Feb 10, two young people came to the Caidian Street community center in Wuhan, center of the epidemic, and confessed to their involvement in a pyramid scheme, according to cjn.cn, a website based in the city.

"We have run out of food now …since the organizer of the pyramid scheme wouldn't allow us to turn on the lights to avoid the community volunteers' health check, we are afraid and feel enormously worried," they said.

Local policemen found six members from Guangdong and Guangxi living in a small rented room and confiscated their pyramid scheme materials.