Taiwan man probed over robbery amputation claim

Published : Nov 29, 2011 - 11:45 Updated : Nov 29, 2011 - 12:06

TAIPEI (AFP) - A Taiwanese man who said his hand had to be amputated after a savage robbery in China was questioned Monday by the island's police amid allegations the injuries were self-inflicted.

Retired Taiwanese businessman Hu Chi-yang speaks to reporters at a hospital in Taoyuan, Taiwan on Nov. 10. A Taiwanese man who said his hand had to be amputated after a savage robbery in China was questioned on Nov. 28 by the island`s police amid allegations the injuries were self-inflicted. Taiwan police said that 59-year-old Hu Chi-yang`s insurance company had requested an investigation into the case, and cited Chinese police as saying he had taken out a million-dollar policy on himself prior to the accident. (AFP-Yonhap News)

Taiwan police said that 59-year-old Hu Chi-yang's insurance company had requested an investigation into the case, and cited Chinese police as saying he had taken out a million-dollar policy on himself prior to the accident.

Hu, with his left arm ending in a stump, was shown on television on his way to the police interrogation.

The case emerged early this month when Hu, a retired businessman, told Taiwanese media that he was attacked by three men in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.

He said they robbed him of about $600 in cash and nearly cut his left hand off to get at his ring and Rolex watch, forcing him to have it amputated after Chinese doctors told him it was too badly damaged to save.

Hu then complained that Chinese police refused to allow him to take the severed hand back to Taiwan, preventing him from using it as evidence.

At a news conference Monday, police in Fujian reportedly said they believed Hu's injuries were self-inflicted, saying the cuts were precise and that blood collected at the alleged crime scene contained traces of anaesthetic.

According to the state-owned China News Service, the police said they also found Hu's fingerprints on a knife dumped nearby, and evidence that he bought it from a local shop.

Police and prosecutors in Taipei said Monday they were opening a case on Hu.

"We've received a request from a local insurance company calling for an investigation into the case," Yang Yuan-ming, deputy chief of Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, told reporters.

Yang cited Chinese investigators as saying that Hu had bought insurance policies worth Tw$31 million ($1 million) before travelling to mainland China.

Hu's daughter denied the allegations, according to Taiwan's state-controlled Central News Agency.

In an interview with AFP earlier this month, Hu insisted he was attacked by robbers and objected to the Chinese authorities refusing to give him the amputated hand, which he said he wanted to keep as evidence.

"I am the victim in this case but they treated me as if I were the robber.

I never want to go to China again," he said at the time.

<한글기사>

中공안 "대만인 `손 절단' 사건은 자작극"

이달 초 중국 푸젠(福建)성에서 발생한 대만 관광객 '손 절단' 사건은 보험금을 노린 자작극이라는 정황이 속속 드러나고 있다.

당시 이 대만인은 강도의 공격을 받아 잘린 손을 중국 공안이 증거물이라며 압 수했다고 주장해 '황당 사건'으로 각 언론에서 보도됐다.

이 사건을 조사한 중국 푸젠성 공안 당국은 보험 사기를 위한 자해 행위로 판단 된다는 결론을 내렸다고 연합보가 29일 전했다.

보도에 따르면 당사자인 후 모(60)씨는 지난 3일 푸젠성 푸톈(포<艸아래甫>田)

시를 방문하기 전 3천100만 대만달러(약 12억4천만원) 규모의 보험에 가입했다.

또 사건발생 직후 후 씨의 혈액에서 마취약 성분이 검출됐으며 범행에 사용한 도구는 그가 현지 가게에서 직접 구입한 것으로 드러났다고 중국 공안은 설명했다.

후 씨는 앞서 푸젠시 방문 당시 지인을 만나러 가던 중 골목길에서 3명의 강도에 게 에워싸여 120만원 상당의 중국 위안화와 대만달러를 빼앗겼다고 밝혔다.

이어 강도들이 자신의 왼손에 끼고 있던 금반지를 가져가기 위해 왼손을 잘랐다 고 주장했다.

중국 공안은 사건 직후 후 씨가 곧바로 경찰에 신고하지 않은 점 등을 바탕으로 조사한 결과, 이런 주장이 모두 사실이 아닌 것으로 확인됐다고 설명했다.

특히 공안이 증거물이라며 잘린 손을 압수했고 접합수술을 위해 돌려달라는 요 구에 조사가 끝난 뒤 돌려줄 수 있다며 거절했다는 그의 주장은 사실이 아니다라고 반박했다.

대만 경찰은 중국 당국의 조사내용을 바탕으로 후 씨를 소환해 조사에 착수했다 .

보험사 측도 후 씨의 보험 사기 가능성과 관련해 당국의 조사를 공식적으로 요 청했다. (연합뉴스)