Suicide leads to removal of senior official
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The city moved to forcibly take possession of the building and demolish it, claiming Hu did not have a valid construction permit when he built the structure and saying he did not follow the correct land use procedure.
The local government tried to take control of the building in April and was foiled when 47-year-old Tang Fuzhen, Hu's ex-wife whom he divorced in 2004, soaked herself in gasoline and threatened to take her life.
Zhong said he tried to take possession of the building again on Nov 13. He said he and his workers were pelted with rocks and petrol bombs. Zhong said at least 10 workers were injured in the altercation.
According to Zhong, it was around three hours after the incident that Tang again poured gasoline over herself and, this time, set herself on fire.
She was taken to Chengdu Military Area General Hospital and died on Nov 29.
The building has since been destroyed.
Neighbors claimed Tang urged Zhong's men to stop dismantling the building and sit down for more negotiations.
Neighbor Deng Youde said the demolition team broke into the building and appeared to be fighting with Tang's relatives inside.
Wei Jiao, the wife of Tang's nephew, claimed Zhong's men protected themselves with helmets and shields and used cudgels to beat people inside the building.
"They snatched my one-year-old baby and kicked me several times," she said.
Deng said Tang set fire to herself during the altercation.
According to Chinese law, court officials, not district government officials, are responsible for forcible demolitions, said Liu Yajun, a lawyer in Beijing.
Liu said the building should not have been declared illegal and seized because the related government departments had not found fault with it.
Beijing lawyer Wang Cailiang has written an open letter to Li Chuncheng, Party chief of Chengdu, urging him to let the city's procuratorate investigate the case.
He said in the letter that he hoped Tang would be the last victim of forcible demolition.
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