A former transport chief in Hegang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has been seized by police as an investigation into the murder of his successor continues, police said Friday.

The former official Bai Yuku was found to have given 200,000 yuan (29,282 U.S. dollars) to Wang Jianbo, who allegedly hired another person to kill the director of the city's transport bureau Li Xingguang, said a senior police officer, who refused to be named.

Li Xingguang was stabbed to death at around 6 p.m. on Aug. 17 in a residential estate in Hegang. The killer Xu Guangdong escaped after the murder of the government official, an unusual thing in China.

Police had arrested four suspects before Bai was seized Friday morning.

The four suspects are Wang Jianbo, 50, an executive in a company under the transport bureau; Yang Jingwu, 42; Xu Guangdong, 41; and Xu Guangbei, 39.

Wang told police that he had many complaints against Li and decided to kill him, as he was questioned several times by Li personally and investigated by officials sent by Li over corruption allegations.

Police said Wang went to his friend Yang to hire a killer, and was introduced to Xu Guangbei. Xu Guangdong, the elder brother of Xu Guangbei, was finally paid 260,000 yuan for the killing mission, it was alleged.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2009)