52-year-old in 15 days detention after faking State Security identity

• Source: Global Times
• [08:32 September 02 2010]
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By Zhou Ping

A 52-year-old man who tried to board a train at the Hongqiao Railway Station for free by pretending to be a Ministry of State Security official is being detained by police for 15 days.

"We can't hold him any longer in this case, but we're further investigating him because we think that he may be guilty of other crimes," Lin Ronggui, a press officer from the Shanghai Railway Public Security Department from the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, told the Global Times Wednesday. "If we come up empty over the next couple of weeks, he'll be let go."

The man surnamed Xia was caught Tuesday, after a police officer figured out his scheme.

Xia said that he was not required to pay fares because he was being rushed to Nanjing to deal with urgent State matters, prompting the conductor to invite him to the dining carriage.

A police officer who was patrolling nearby overheard the conversation, and was surprised that an official from the Ministry of State Security would reveal his identity so candidly. The officer approached Xia and asked for his identification, which was later confirmed as a fake by authorities.