Taichung Police Commissioner Hu Mu-yuan (胡木源) quit last night, with National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) telling a press conference that he had approved the resignation.
Hu’s resignation came in the wake of the gunning-down of alleged gang leader Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) last Friday.
It was later revealed that four police officers at the crime scene were chatting and drinking tea when the shooting took place, giving rise to rumors of links between the local police and gangs.
Two ranking police officers have been given a demerit by the National Police Agency (NPA) for what was deemed to be misconduct, while the other two were given a strong warning.
The day after the shooting, the police found a vehicle near Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), which they later confirmed was the car used by the assailant to flee the crime scene.
Nantou police said yesterday that the gunman remained at large and his whereabouts were unknown.
Earlier yesterday Hu had admitted that he had not reported the Weng case to NPA Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) until Sunday and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) until Tuesday.
“I was preparing a detailed presentation of the case to the mayor after completion of our initial investigations. I am very sorry about the delay,” he said.
With internal police departments and prosecutors investigating alleged connections between Taichung police and local gang members, Hu had pledged to solve the case and find the gunman by the year-end.
“I will offer my resignation if we cannot do it by then,” he had said.
Also yesterday, Jason Hu said that he was determined to deal with the so-called “eight categories of special business,” which are regarded as covers for criminal activities.
“As mayor of this city, I will not back down from a war against gangsters even if my life is threatened,” he said.
The eight categories of “special business” refer to entertainment-related enterprises such as KTV clubs, saunas, night clubs, barber and massage shops, dance halls, discotheques, and tea houses, many of which are said to be run by criminal gangs.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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