A man detained for stealing hanged himself in a police interrogation room early Saturday morning, according to Kunming police. The death is the most recent instance in which detainees have died under questionable circumstances in police custody, according to a China Daily report.

Xing Kun (邢鲲), 29, had been arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing Sony PlayStation Portable game units reportedly worth 50,000 yuan (US$7,300). Police said he was put into an interrogation room at 4 am on Saturday where he reportedly confessed to stealing the machines and was found dead less than four hours later.

Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau spokesman Yao Zhihong denied any police misconduct, telling reporters "Xing was healthy before going into the interrogation waiting room. He went through some emotional changes during the interrogation, but no torture was used."

According to police, the video camera in the interrogation room in which Xing allegedly died does not show him hanging himself because he was out of the camera's range.

Police originally told Xing's family that he hanged himself with a shoelace, according to a Dushi Shibao report, later saying that he used a strip of cloth to hang himself.

A male relative of Xing's surnamed You also told Dushi Shibao that upon seeing Xing's corpse, it appeared that he had sustained injuries to his temples, throat, the backs of his hands and his fingernails.

Yao seemed to tacitly acknowledge the possibility that foul play may be involved.

"We won't try to cover up anything if any official is found responsible for this," he said.

Prior to his recent arrest and death, Xing had been convicted of theft four times between 1996 and 2008, police said.

Xing's death is the third high-profile detainee death in Kunming in the last year. In February, the death of 24-year-old Li Qiaoming drew nationwide attention when Jinning police said he died while playing "elude the cat", a Chinese version of hide and seek.

Another detainee, 43-year-old Wang Shikun, died in Kunming police custody in August after catching a cold.

Provincial security officials are currently investigating Xing Kun's death, according to China Daily.

A man being held in detention in Kunming died in a hospital on Saturday with no clear cause of death, according to a Xinhua report.

According to a police spokesperson speaking to reporters on Sunday, 43-year-old Wang Shukun (王树坤) had been held in the Guandu District Detention Center since July 19 before being checked into a hospital by police on August 6. After undergoing emergency procedures to save his life, Wang died early Saturday, the spokesperson said.

Wang was initially arrested after a traffic accident between his relative Lu Chunlei and the driver of a cargo truck on July 18. Lu told Oriental Morning News that after colliding with the truck, he called several friends to the scene, including Wang Shukun. Lu said the driver of the truck called a man surnamed Zheng, whom he referred to as "boss".

Upon the arrival of Lu's friends and "boss" Zheng, Zheng allegedly began to curse at Lu's entourage, saying "You bunch of bastards, here for a free meal, are you?" and eventually claimed to be a policeman.

Lu said an altercation broke out, after which police showed up, allegedly allowing Zheng to beat members of Lu's group in their presence. Zheng, who sustained unspecified injuries during the fighting, was allowed to go to a hospital for treatment. Lu's friends, including Wang Shukun, were taken to the Guandu District's Shuangfeng Police Station. It was the last time Wang would be seen alive in public.

According to Wang's relative Lu Jin, the police said that Wang caught a cold on August 2, and took some medicine. On August 6, Wang became extremely uncomfortable and was taken to a prison hospital. The following night, his condition worsened and he died shortly after midnight on August 8. An investigation into the cause of Wang's death is underway.

Wang's case is somewhat reminiscent of the so-called "eluding the cat" case in which Li Qiaoming, a young man detained for illegal logging, died while in police custody in Jinning County. Jinning police drew the ire of Chinese netizens for dismissively claiming that Li was playing elude the cat (躲猫猫), a Chinese game similar to hide-and-seek.

Months after a media firestorm and creative attempts by the local government to contain the brewing PR disaster, the initial explanation was reversed.

Last Thursday police officers Su Shaolu and Li Dongming went on trial for abuse of inmates and dereliction of duty for failing to do anything about the bullying that allegedly led to Li Qiaoming's death.

Meanwhile, the term "dying from fever", the current official explanation of Wang Shukun's death in detention, is already being compared to "eluding the cat" by Chinese media commentators.

The official explanation for the death of a young man in Jinning County from brain injuries sustained while in police custody has been reversed by provincial authorities, who also demoted senior officers for their mishandling of what has come to be known in China as the 'hide-and-seek incident'.

In a Friday press conference, the Yunnan prosecutor's office said that Yuxi resident Li Qiaoming (李荞明), who had been arrested and held in a detention center in Jinning in late January, suffered fatal head trauma at the hands of his cellmates, who bullied and beat him.

The original explanation given by local police for Li's death was that he was careless while playing a blindfolded game of hide-and-seek with his cellmates, during which he allegedly hit his head into a wall, leading to his fatal brain injuries.

Chinese blogs, newspapers and bulletin board sites instantly jumped on the police explanation and questioned its veracity. The term 'duo maomao' (躲猫猫, or 'eluding the cat') – the Chinese name for hide-and-seek – became an instant internet catchphrase, as well as a source of embarrassment for the Yunnan government.

The provincial government's propaganda bureau responded to the internet-fuelled outcry by organizing a group of 'netizens', including high-profile local bloggers, to act as a special investigation committee. The committee was given access to police documents and viewed Li's cell, but was denied access to surveillance video and Li's cellmates. The committee quickly declared that it was unable to get to the bottom of the case due to this lack of access.

The committee's announcement brought about more questions and criticism from the Chinese blogosphere, and within a week, provincial authorities announced that Li's death was a result of being beaten by other detainees while in police custody.

Yunnan prosecutor's office spokesman Liu Xiaokai told reporters that three of Li's cellmates had frequently bullied Li, with the incident leading to his death taking place on the evening of February 8. Liu said that the three detainees had asked Li to join in a game of hide-and-seek, blindfolded him, and then beat him, during which time Li hit his head on a wall, which ultimately led to his death four days later.

According to Yunnan Public Security Bureau spokeswoman Yang Jianping, the vice-director of Jinning's Public Security Bureau and top two officials at the Jinning detention center were demoted, and the officer in charge of Li's cell block was fired.

Doubts have been voiced by some Chinese internet users regarding the new official explanation for Li's death, but it appears likely that – barring any further internet outrage – this is now a closed case. In the meantime, there is no word on how the new explanation for Li's death will affect his family's attempts to collect 250,000 yuan in compensation for his death.

The family of Li Qiaoming – the 24-year-old Yuxi resident who was fatally injured in a Jinning detention facility earlier this month – is seeking 250,000 yuan (US$36,500) in compensation from the Jinning Public Security Department, according to Yuxi news reports.

A family representative told Yuxi News Net that Li Qiaoming's family has requested that the Jinning Public Security Department cremate his body after the completion of his autopsy, plus a quarter of a million yuan in compensation to pay for his funeral. Funerals in rural Yunnan can be several days long with thousands of guests eating and drinking for days.

On January 30, Li was arrested by Jinning police for felling trees illegally, he was held in a Jinning detention facility until February 8, when he was taken by police to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with severe brain damage. Four days later, Li was dead.

The official explanation from police was that Li received his head injuries – plus multiple blows and kicks to his body – while joining other detainees in a game of 'eluding the cat' ('duo maomao', 躲猫猫), a Chinese children's game similar to hide-and-seek in which the seeker wears a blindfold.

The police explanation of the 'eluding the cat incident' has been questioned throughout Chinese media and in Chinese blogs, bulletin board sites and forums. In response, the Yunnan Provincial Propaganda Department named a 15-member investigation committee to look into the case.

The committee, which was put under the direction of two popular bloggers, also consists of current and formal journalists as well as public security officers. During the committee's visit to the Jinning detention facility where Li died, the group was allowed to look at police documents and the cell in which Li was held.

However, the committee was not given access to video surveillance or autopsy evidence, nor was it allowed to speak with guards who were on duty at the time or the detainee that police said attacked Li, according to an International Herald Tribune report.

In wake of the widespread disbelief expressed across the Chinese internet with regard to the official explanation that a 24-year-old man died from serious brain injuries while playing hide-and-seek in a detention center, the Yunnan government has taken the unusual step of appointing one of Kunming's most popular bloggers head of the investigation into the incident.

Kunming blogger Zhao Li (赵立), best known by his blog name Fengzhimoduan (风之末端 ) was named director of an investigation committee looking into the death of Yuxi resident Li Qiaoming, who had been detained in late January for illegal logging in Jinning County. Li was taken by police to a hospital on February 8 with brain injuries – four days later he was pronounced dead.

The incident caught the attention of the Chinese blogosphere and media because Jinning police told Li's parents that he had sustained the head injuries, as well as kicks and blows, while playing hide-and-seek with other inmates. In Chinese, hide-and-seek is known as 'duo maomao', or 'eluding the cat' – the Yunnan government now refers to Li's death as the 'Duo maomao incident'.

The blogger Zhao was chosen by the provincial government to head a committee of 15 investigators composed of four public security officers and prosecutors, three reporters and eight members of the public including Zhao, another blogger who was named deputy director of the investigation committee and three people who won an online lottery.

The unorthodox move to make popular bloggers heads of an investigation committee is a tacit admission by the Yunnan government of the power of the internet – especially blogs – in shaping Chinese public opinion. It also belies the widespread suspicion of the official version of Li's death.

Midday on Friday, Zhao and the rest of the committee arrived at the Jinning detention facility where Li had been held prior to hospitalization. The committee visited the cell where Li had been held and were shown documents related to the events leading up to his death. In the afternoon the committee held its first press conference with regard to the investigation.

"We're satisfied with the attitude of the police toward our investigation," investigation committee director Zhao said, "We're not professional investigators but we're doing our best."

As of 2 pm local time on Saturday, Zhao had yet to make any references to the investigation on his blog.

The arrest and subsequent death of a 24-year-old man in a county near Kunming has called the police explanation for the death – playing hide-and-seek – into question.

On January 30, Li Qiaoming (李荞明), a resident of Beicheng town in Yuxi, was arrested in Jinning County (晋宁县) for illegal logging and taken to a local detention facility. On February 8, Li reportedly suffered injuries while in detention and was taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with severe brain damage – Li died in the hospital on February 12.

According to a February 13 report in Yunnan Information News, police in Jinning – which is located on the southern edge of Dianchi Lake – told Li's parents that their son had suffered his fatal injuries during a game of "elude the cat" (躲猫猫), the Chinese name for the children's game hide-and-seek.

The report stated that while playing hide-and-seek, Li was kicked and beaten by other detainees and due to his carelessness crashed into a wall, leading to his brain damage.

Li's relatives told the newspaper that they felt the official explanation for Li's death was "extremely farfetched" – an opinion that has been echoing throughout newspaper opinion pages and BBS sites across China.

Playing 'elude the cat' has become the first internet meme, or 'thunder word' (雷语) of 2009, becoming synonymous for danger and unclear circumstances.

'Eluding the cat' is the second internet meme to come out of southwest China in the last eight months: in July of 2008 thousands of residents of Weng'an, Guizhou province, rioted after police said a young girl drowned herself in the company of a young man who was "doing pushups" (做卧俯撑). 'Doing pushups' subsequently became a popular phrase among sarcastic – and typically young – Chinese netizens.

Jinning police have yet to release any further clarification of the events leading to Li Qiaoming's death.

Image: Yunnan Information News