Police investigate suspected beating death

Local officials are investigating a suspected case of urban management staff beating a vendor to death in Linwu county, Central China’s Hunan province, Hunan-based Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported Wednesday.

A number of urban management officers are under investigation after the death, but the police did not reveal the latest investigation results, the report said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a clash broke out and a 52-year old watermelon seller died, according to eyewitness accounts on Sina Weibo. His wife was seriously wounded during the incident with several urban management staff.

Witnesses claim the urban management staff hit the victim’s head with steelyard weights. Pictures of the fight were posted online, one of them showing the working card and number of one of the suspected officers.

A local government statement named the victim as Deng Zhengjia, who suddenly dropped to the floor during the clash.

China’s low-level urban management officers, chengguan, control street vendors, hawkers, shoe shiners and illegal cabs. In recent years there have been a number of incidents involving the public and the officers.