A Xinhua New Agency report suggested recently fallen Communist Party official Bo Xilai interfered with a police investigation on his wife and could face harsh punishment, The Wall Street Journal reported. The report was the first official word on the attempted defection of Wang Lijun, former Chongqing police chief, once regarded as Bo’s right-hand man. Wang covered up the murder of Neil Heywood, for which Bo’s wife Gu Kailai has already been convicted, but later confronted Bo with evidence. “On the morning of January 29, Wang Lijun was angrily rebuked and slapped in the face by the official,” the Xinhua report said of the confrontation, although it didn’t go as far as to name Bo. Lawyers have said the implication would open up Bo, the former Communist Party chief of Chongqing, to criminal charges.
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