Xi Jinping sets up special unit to probe Zhou Yongkang corruption case

President Xi Jinping has set up a special unit headed by a senior policeman and deputy minister of public security to investigate the scandal surrounding retired leader Zhou Yongkang, bypassing the Communist Party's internal disciplinary apparatus, sources say.

Beijing police chief Fu Zhenghua will report directly to Xi, according to police and graft watchdog sources. Fu is the first person in the party's history to also hold the concurrent posts of head of Beijing's armed police, the Standing Committee member of the party's Beijing municipal committee and deputy minister of public security.

The arrangement is unusual and reflects not only the sensitivity of Zhou's case but also Xi's personal interest in it. Corrupt officials are usually dealt with by the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and kept incommunicado in an extra-legal, internal system of detention called shuanggui for interrogation before being handed to police and prosecutors.

But at least three separate sources with knowledge of recent interrogations widely believed to be part of a larger corruption probe into Zhou's affairs said police were taking the primary roles in these cases.

It is believed that Xi and CCDI head Wang Qishan wanted police who are more experienced with criminal investigations to handle the investigation rather than the CCDI, whose abilities and methods have been questioned recently.

One of the sources said the top leaders were not satisfied with the CCDI's working style and were aware of frequent abuses during inquiry processes.

But it remains unclear if the new practice of having a special team headed by a senior policeman would set a pattern. "Many of the CCDI officials have been transferred from other departments and have very little experience of investigations and crime-solving," the source said. "Xi and Wang agreed to use police to lead the probes as they believe the police are more professional."