One of China’s biggest ever manhunts ended with the fatal shooting of a “ruthless and highly dangerous” criminal in a factory in Chongqing, state-run China Daily reported.
Zhou Kehua was the mastermind of the fatal armed robbery in the southwestern city on Friday and was linked to multiple crimes since 2004, including 9 deaths in robberies which also left 5 injured. An undercover police officer spotted him in a leather factory in Shapingba district, where the two sides opened fire. Authorities gunned him down around 6:50 a.m., ending the four-day hunt.
The police garnered praise from Sina Weibo users as pictures of a bloodied Zhou circulated on the internet, including state-run media websites. One user posted: “If he wasn’t killed, it wouldn’t appease the public anger, Chongqing police did well!”.
Others found many faults in the operation including proper handling of evidence and contradicting version of events – there were questions over whether Zhou was armed during the firefight with the police. There are also those who thought it was better if the police caught him alive for questioning.
