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.

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.