Suspect Arrested for Blackmailing Professor and ResearcherBeijing Police have arrested a suspect for allegedly blackmailing a professor and a researcher with threatening letters.Zhang Jinda is suspected of delivering a letter to the home of a professor at a Beijing-based university on June 8, saying that he has been hired to kill the professor. Zhang promised to give up his murder plan and reveal the name of the man who hired him if the professor deposited 30,000 yuan (3,614 U.S. dollars) into a designated bank account. A research fellow at another Beijing-based university received a similar letter on August 25 attempting to blackmail him for 8,000 yuan. The researcher was warned that his home would be burnt if he did not pay the money. Beijing Police grouped the two cases together for investigation and seized Zhang at his home in Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province. Zhang admitted that he once worked as a home decorator for the professor and the researcher. He decided to blackmail them with threatening letters since he believed that senior intellectuals like them must be very rich. The case is under further investigation. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |