Sacked Chinese politician wanted to kill police chief to hide wife's murder of UK businessman

Beijing, May 7 (ANI): Sacked Chinese politician Bo Xilai reportedly plotted three ways to kill Chengdu police chief Wang Lijun to hide the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood by his wife Gu Kailai.

According to the Daily Mail, Bo Xilai, then a rising star of the Chinese Communist Party, was trying to prevent Wang Lijun, from revealing that Heywood had been murdered.

To escape Xilai's fury, Wang sought refuge in the U.S. consulate in Chengdu in February, where he told American diplomats that Heywood was poisoned by Gu Kailai.

He claimed that Kailai had an affair with Heywood, and had also confessed to killing him.

A Hong Kong magazine, New Way, had claimed in an investigation that Bo drew up three false explanations to hide the planned killing of Wang.

The first story was to blame the killing on the local mafia as revenge for police efforts to fight crime in the city.

The second was to pretend that Wang had committed suicide to escape being punished for corruption.

The third fake explanation was suicide caused by Wang's depression.

Bo opted for the third explanation, the magazine claimed, because the first was too difficult and the second would undermine his push for national power.

Bo's aides had also allegedly forged Wang's medical history to prove that the police chief suffered from depression.

The magazine claimed that five members of Wang's circle were interrogated, with two of them dying under torture, and others were put under surveillance.

Heywood's death ended the political career of Bo, who was sacked after it was claimed he had wire-tapped phones of senior Communist Party leaders.

The wire-tapping network was reportedly discovered when anti-corruption officials detected a phone call made to Chinese President Hu Jintao was being bugged.

The body of the Old Harrovian business 'fixer', who had known the Bo family for a decade, was found in a hotel in Chongqing last November. (ANI)