Dozens Linked to Bo Xilai Put Under Detention

The investigation into Bo Xilai for "serious discipline violations" has led to the detention of nearly forty people, according the Telegraph and the New York Times. The ripple effect reaches from Chongqing all the way to Dalian in Liaoning province as people associated with Bo are caught in the dragnet.

 

Bo served as mayor of Dalian between 1993 and 2000. He became the Governor of Liaoning Province in 2003. During this period Bo is believed to have developed extensive networks with business and political elites. 

 

One of them is Xu Ming, the billionaire founder of the Dalian Shide Group. Xu vanished days after Bo was formally sacked in Chongqing—and many suspect he is linked to the Bo investigation. 

 

Another person in detention is Xia Deliang. He's the district chief in Na'an in Chongqing, and is reported to have supplied the poison that may have been used to kill British businessman Neil Heywood. Bo's wife Gu Kailai is under investigation for the alleged murder.

 

Also detained is Guo Weiguo, according to the New York Times.  He's a police official in Chongqing but knew Bo Xilai from back in Liaoning Province.

 

Wu Wenkang, a Chongqing communist official who knew Bo while he was Mayor of Dalian has also reportedly been detained.

 

The Daily Telegraph reports that some of those detained are held at Beidaihe, a seaside town in Hebei province, according to a well-connected scholar and public figure in Chongqing.