The police chief, sacked over a violent protest about a teenage girl's death in southwest China's Guizhou Province, said some of his colleagues had collaborated with local gang members.

Shen Guirong, the former director of the public security bureau of Guizhou's Weng'an County, told China News Weekly that police had trouble with people in Weng'an over issues such as social security, relocation and mining.

Shen arrived in Weng'an in July 2002 and planned to use tighter rules to keep the county safe and peaceful. However in recent years he and his colleagues spent much of the time handling massive disputes.

Sometimes hundreds of police officers were dispatched to force migrants to relocate or demolish illegal buildings and this enraged local residents, Shen said.

A forced relocation in 2004 led to the siege of a local town government. Scores of people attacked government officials at Longtan Town on December 16, Shen told the magazine.

In the fight to free the government officials including the county chief, police officers wounded several. Hundreds of villagers then went on the rampage attacking town government buildings.

During the demolition of illegal buildings last year, conflicts broke out again among local people and police, which led to the police becoming unpopular in Weng'an, Shen said.

Weng'an also has many drug addicts and AIDS victims, Shen said. Social security in the county is inadequate, he said.

The county relocated many people during the construction of a reservoir which led to a series of disputes from 2004.

Conflicts also frequently occurred between villagers and mine owners. The government was constantly telling the police to solve the disputes.

Weng'an has a lot of gangs, Shen told the magazine. The Yushan gang is the strongest and some police officers collaborated with gang members, he said.

Gang members often received information on police operations and fled before officers arrived.

"More than 50 percent of the crimes went undetected - even a murder case this year," Shen said.

The man responsible for a series of four explosions between September and October was still unknown, which made the relationship between the police and local people more tense. There had been no casualties as a result of the explosions but people were still worried and not satisfied with the police, Shen said.

Provincial Party chief Shi Zongyuan said the deep-rooted reasons behind the protest were "rude and roughshod solutions" by local authorities to solve disputes over mines, the demolition of homes, relocating residents for reservoir construction and other issues.

On June 28, 30,000 people took part in a violent protest in Weng'an after a police report on a 17-year-old woman's death.

It has been confirmed that Li Shufen drowned but many believed she was a victim of a rape and murder and the accused were linked to senior police officers, though none of the three youngsters seen with Li before her death had any connection with the police.

Hundreds of gang members and youths rioted, attacking local officials and offices.

Four officials, including Weng'an's Party chief and Shen were sacked because of "severe malfeasance."

(Shanghai Daily July 10, 2008)