Chairman Of The Chinese Communist Party Found Lifeless

Workers clear a new party flag ahead of the celebration of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, at a workshop in Hangzhou (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the Chinese Communist Party at Chengdu University, who was reported missing since Thursday, October 15, was finally found dead on Friday.

Launching Antara , Saturday, the body of the man found in the Wenjiang section of the Jing'an River at 06.00 local time on Friday (05.00 WIB) was confirmed by the police as Mao Hongtao who served as chairman of the ruling party on the campus.

Police suspect the victim died after drowning, but until now it is still under police investigation.

Mao's case attracted public attention after several posts led to allegations that the victim was facing work pressure.

Born in 1970, Mao is a former mayor of Meishan City, about 80 kilometers from the capital city of Sichuan Province in Chengdu.

As a high-ranking academic official majoring in accounting, Mao received a special visit from the Governing Council, according to the victim's curriculum vitae uploaded on the campus website.

Citing several status posts on WeChat, a number of local media suspected Mao was under work pressure as evidenced by his admission of wanting to end his life, sparking speculation about why he disappeared.

Some netizens even asked about the possibility of conflict and management problems considering that the campus often changes the position of party chairman.

On Thursday, October 15 morning, Mao's upload caught the attention of netizens.

"We immediately formed a special working group to cooperate with the authorities to carry out an investigation," the university posted Thursday afternoon on Sina Weibo.

As of Thursday evening news of the death of the chairman of the Chengdu University on Sina Weibo had been viewed 100 million times.