The Taipei District Court ruled yesterday that two more suspects — one of them an army soldier — should be detained in connection with the killing of a police detective in Taipei on Sept. 14.
The court ordered that the soldier, Ma Yin-hung (馬寅紘), and Wan Shao-cheng (萬少丞), a suspected gang member, be held incommunicado, after they were detained by prosecutors a day earlier.
Five other defendants, including another soldier and a military policeman, were released on bail of NT$100,000 each.
Police and prosecutors identified the suspects after reviewing surveillance footage and collecting fingerprints from weapons such as baseball bats, bottles and metal pipes that were allegedly used to kill police detective Hsueh Chen-kuo (薛貞國).
Wan said he received a telephone call from another suspect, Hsiao Jui-hung (蕭叡鴻), an alleged member of the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) on Sept. 13, asking him to gather some people for a confrontation at a nightclub in the ATT 4 FUN department store in Taipei, Taipei police said.
Police said Wan admitted being at the scene of the crime, but denied beating Hsueh. Ma and the other defendants also denied taking part in the assault, police said.
Another main suspect, alleged gang member Chou Yu-teng (周譽騰), is still at large. Police said they had arrested three people reportedly working under Chou and are still on the hunt for Chou.
Hsueh died in the early hours of Sept. 14 after being beaten up by a mob outside the department store in Xinyi District (信義).
The 38-year-old detective, who police said was at the scene to handle a disturbance at the nightclub despite being off duty, died after being assaulted by a group of about 50.
Three main suspects were detained earlier last week and have also been held incommunicado.
Separately yesterday, as the Ministry of National Defense launched an administrative investigation into the case, officials said that none of the three soldiers allegedly involved in Hsueh’s death have criminal records and they deny gang affiliations.
While Ma was detained, soldier Wang Pei-an (王培安) and military policeman Tung Yu-tang (董玉堂) were released on bail after being interrogated. All of them denied involvement in the violence.
After their release, Wang and Tung said that they have never been members of a gang, Office of the Inspector General director Major General Jiang Chung-te (江忠德) told a press conference.
The military would mete out suitable punishments if the investigation showed that the three were involved, Jiang said, adding that punishments could range from verbal admonitions to major demerits.
Ma is undergoing a four-month period of military training as Taiwan shifts from a compulsory service system toward an all-volunteer force. He was set to complete his training on Oct. 2, Jiang said.
Wang, is set to complete his one-year mandatory military service on Nov. 5, Jiang said, adding that Tung enlisted last year and passed a series of tests and background checks before being enlisted.
The military also plans to provide more instruction in the law for the soldiers, Jiang added.
According to Jiang, the ministry has held regular classes on the law for service personnel and asks them not to visit places such as nightclubs and pubs where their personal safety could be threatened.
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