Although seizing illegal lands by officials are common in China, but horrific photographs of Qian's death on Saturday have ignited widespread fury, forcing local officials to offer explanations in a news conference, the News York Times reports.
Within 36 hours, the initial post attracted nearly 20,000 comments. Tianya and two other Web sites that reported on the case together received 400,000 comments.
However, officials of Yueqing in Zhejiang Province, which supervises Qian's home village, have said that the photographs indicate that he had met with a terrible accident. But some Chinese reporters and residents of Zhaiqiao say that they are 'foul play and a sloppy cover-up.'
Qian, the former Communist Party representative in the village, had reportedly travelled to Beijing to file a petition with the central authorities.
In the news conference on Monday, city officials said that Qian was arrested, found guilty of criminal conduct and imprisoned at least twice. Qian continued his crusade after recently being released from prison.
Before his death, he had become the villagers' favourite for the post of village chief in the coming election, the paper said.
On Saturday morning, he was run over by a red truck, and his body crushed beneath the left front tire, the paper quoted Chinese Business News that cited Qian's wife, Wang Zhaoyan, as saying.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness has claimed that several men wearing security uniforms held down the victim in the road. One of the men waved his hand, and a truck then drove slowly over Mr. Qian, the paper added. nternet users and Chinese reporters are continuing to question the explanation by city officials, pointing to discrepancies revealed by the photos.
