Photo: screenshot from online video
The foreign prison breaker who escaped on October 18 from a prison in Jilin city in Northeast China’s Jilin Province was apprehended by the local police around 10 am on Sunday, according to the public security bureau of Jilin city. He had been at large for over 40 days.
An official from Jilin Province publicity department confirmed his capture to the Global Times on Sunday. The prisoner, indentified as Zhu Xianjian in Chinese language, has been detained, the department said, noting the local police will give further information about where and how he was caught.
According to a notice the public security bureau of Jilin city released, the prison escapee was caught by the local police in Fengman district, and local residents said Zhu had hidden in a local abandoned tourist attraction.
An online video clip shows a man believed to be Zhu being carried away by four police officers.
Zhu was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison in 2014 for three crimes he committed in Yanbian, Jilin, including illegally crossing the national border, theft and robbery with intent to cause serious injury. He was to be released and deported in 2023, according to media reports.
Previously, the amount of reward for reporting the whereabouts of Zhu offered by the police caused a huge sensation after it was raised to 700,000 yuan ($109,572) from the initial 150,000 yuan while the extremely dangerous escapee was still at large.
Photo: screenshot from CCTV News
Before Zhu was caught, a man from Baicheng city in Jilin Province was reported by local residents to the local police repeatedly due to his appearance which resembled that of the foreign prison breaker.
Local residents proactively kept an eye out for anyone who looked like the escaped prisoner. According to media reports, the average monthly income of local residents is only 2,000 yuan.
Before the announcement of Zhu’s being caught, a police officer from the public security bureau of Jilin city told the Global Times on Sunday that he had kept receiving reports of Zhu on Sunday morning.
The man from Baicheng in Jilin, however, was reported five times in three days due to his highly similar looks and expressions to the prison escapee, according to media reports.
A video circulated on social media shows the man in a dark blue down jacket has exactly almost the same facial features, expressions and even hairstyle as Zhu’s.
Global Times
