A celebrity Chinese qigong master, who claims to conjure snakes from thin air and cure the sick, has been held by police on suspicion of kidnapping and murder, reports said yesterday.
Wang Lin (王林), who gained fame and political admirers through his performance of qigong, a Chinese system of exercise and breathing control, was detained on Thursday over the death of businessman Zou Yong (鄒勇), Xinhua news agency and other reports said.
It is the latest drama in the colorful life of a man who previously threatened to curse a reporter for questioning his powers — which include retrieving an incinerated banknote intact from an orange.
He gained fame in China two years ago, when images of his feats were posted online, along with pictures of him posing with celebrities.
The self-proclaimed healer was reportedly visited by Jack Ma (馬雲), the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, for reasons unknown.
Pictures also circulated on Chinese social media of Wang with former Chinese minister of railways Liu Zhijun (劉志軍) — who was convicted of corruption and given a suspended death sentence — martial arts star Jet Li (李連杰) and various senior officials.
Reports described Zou as a “disciple” of Wang’s. Both are from the province of Jiangxi, where Zou was also a local legislator.
The businessman previously said he had given Wang 5 million yuan (US$800,000), “several sports cars and 20kg of gold” to teach him taichi, the Global Times said, citing reports.
However, Zou turned against his teacher in 2012 after he made persistent requests for money, the newspaper said.
“Since then, Zou had been revealing Wang’s alleged fraudulent behavior to media and authorities. Wang had denied Zou’s allegations,” it added.
Zou was kidnapped and killed last week, Xinhua said, adding that police in Jiangxi detained two suspects on Tuesday night. Wang and another suspect were held on Thursday.
The Beijing News quoted unnamed sources saying that Zou’s body was chopped up and thrown into a lake.
The same newspaper ran an interview with Wang in 2013 which questioned his self-proclaimed powers.
The newspaper suggested he had mastered sleight of hand rather than the supernatural, infuriating Wang so much that he telephoned the author to curse her.
“I am telling you, you will die miserably and your family will follow,” the Beijing News quoted him as saying in a follow-up article.
Wang owns a five-story villa in Jiangxi and keeps a Rolls-Royce and three Hummers, the Beijing News report said.
Wang has been living in Hong Kong as a permanent resident in recent years, the Global Times said yesterday.
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