The family of a street peddler left with a brain injury and possible paralysis plans to sue chengguan officers blamed for the attack.

Chen Chuanyi from Anhui province, the brother-in-law of 28-year-old peddler Peng Lin, said he disagreed with the statement released by Shanghai's Minhang district government on Tuesday, and thought it "didn't tally with the truth".

"My sister (Peng's wife) and I were both present when it happened. We're quite sure Peng never punched the official who collected the evidence with a video camera," said Chen, adding that the urban management department should produce proof Peng was responsible.

On July 11, the five chengguan beat watermelon peddler Peng Lin, causing a brain injury and hemiplegia to his right side, as they removed unlicensed street peddlers from Huacao town, Minhang district.

A woman told a local television station that Peng was violently taken to a vehicle where the chengguan closed the curtains and began to beat him. "He was shouting in the van: 'Help! Help!'"

The Huacao town urban management department said Peng resisted the chengguan and punched one who was collecting evidence with a video camera.

Chen said: "He bit another chengguan's leg, but that is completely his instinctive self-defense, because at that point all the chengguan were pulling and grabbing him."

In the video taken by the Huacao town urban management department, several chengguan are seen pulling Peng, with one holding his head and others grabbing his ankles, but it doesn't show Peng punching the chengguan.

Peng remains in stable condition at the intensive care unit at Shanghai Huashan Hospital.

But Chen Chuanying, Peng Lin's wife, said her husband had a 70 percent possibility of permanent paralysis.

The Minhang district government said the five chengguan who have been dismissed and are now in detention are not registered urban management staff but assistants hired by the town government and have no law enforcement power.

Peng's family plans to appeal to the law and now they are collecting evidence of the incident.

"At any rate, what we hope is that Peng can recover soon. I don't know how he can live the rest of his life if he is permanently paralyzed," Chen said.

"We just want our legal rights, but we will solve it rationally. Such violent law enforcement has to end. Government should pay close attention to it," he said.

Chen added that Peng's relatives in his hometown are planning to sell their crop to collect money for Peng's therapy.

Chen Chuanyi denied that more than 40 of Peng's relatives came to the local government police station to deal with the case.

"The most relatives we had here is when we had a meeting with local government at the police station on July 15. About 10 people attended," Chen said "How could they be saying more than 40?"

"Peng Lin's father died when he was young, and Peng made a hard living. His relatives gave him a lot of help and they just came to see him," he added.

(China Daily July 31, 2009)