Wang Lijun, the renowned triad-buster and former Chongqing police chief, appeared humbled and low-key in recent interviews with mainland media following his sudden fall from grace. It is in sharp contrast to his high-profile personality of recent years.
In probably his last interviews before his 'sick leave' - with the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekly and the Chongqing Daily in the past week - and after it was announced that he had been stripped of his police chief duties and reassigned to a portfolio that included education and the environment, Wang came across as uncharacteristically meek.
'It is just a normal reshuffle,' Wang told the weekly, which wrote that he answered with a flat tone when referring to his new position.
When the weekly's reporter tried to confirm online speculation about the reasons for his job change, Wang simply laughed and asked, 'Where did you see those [online rumours]?'
He then said he was headed to a meeting, invited the reporter to visit Chongqing and hung up the phone, the weekly reported.
The report, which the publication posted on its website on Wednesday, was removed within hours, and a spokesman for the weekly could not be reached for comment.
In an interview with the same publication in February last year, Wang said that he did not find any weaknesses 'when dealing with criminal cases'.
