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Authorities in North China's Hebei Province have mobilized hundreds of policemen in a hunt for an inmate who escaped from prison in Shenzhou City, about 220 kilometers from Beijing. Police are offering up to 100,000 yuan (US$15,600) for information leading to the capture of Wang Zhenqing, a 43-year-old Henan Province native. Wang was jailed in January for 10 years for robbery and sent to the Hebei No. 3 Prison in Shenzhou, an institution for major convicted felons serving long sentences. Wang may have stolen some cash during his escape, and police said he may have hailed a taxi to make a quick getaway, China News Service reported Wednesday. Prison authorities said they were investigating how Wang managed to escape but denied media reports that a prison guard had been injured during the incident. They refused to give any more details. Patrols by armed police officers have been intensified at all the crossroads near the prison and multiple checkpoints have been set up on highways. Security was beefed up at a nearby school after the break-out. Visitors were required to register before entering and parents were asked to accompany their children to and from school, the Beijing-based Legal Evening News reported. In October 2009, three inmates who killed a security guard and escaped from a prison in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were later executed. The three, aged between 21 and 28, escaped with another inmate from the prison. The fourth man held a woman hostage at knifepoint in a final confrontation with police. A sniper shot him dead and rescued the woman. |
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