After reading the tomb-robbing novel, the man met three accomplices, three were arrested and one surrendered.

　　▲ The suspect Yao Mosai identified the scene.

　　In the night, several men came to the cemetery with shovels and crowbars. Some people shoveled, others let out the wind, and others went down to light candles … … Recently, this scene really happened in Dangui Village, Fengyu Town, ziyang, Sichuan.

　　On November 27th, the Red Star journalist learned from the Yanjiang Branch of Ziyang Public Security Bureau that Zeng, a native of Ziyang involved in the case, had read the tomb-robbing novel before and met three Anhui men through a QQ group called "Notes on Tomb-robbing in the North School". After knowing each other, they met and stepped on the spot in Dangui Village, and finally jointly pried open an ancient tomb. In the early morning of November 23, after digging out a porcelain pillow, they were stopped by villagers and police on the spot.

　　At present, four people have been criminally detained by the police and the case is under further investigation. According to the preliminary appraisal by Yanjiang Cultural Management Institute, the stolen ancient tomb was built in the late Qing Dynasty. The specific age and whether the stolen porcelain pillow is a cultural relic are waiting for further appraisal by the cultural relics department at a higher level.

　　▲ The police investigated on the spot.

　　Found:

　　The ancestral grave was "loosened"

　　The villagers suspected that someone was going to rob the tomb.

　　Fengyu Town is located in Yanjiang District, ziyang, bordering Zizhong County, Neijiang City. In Dangui Village, Fengyu Town, the family of villager Han has been multiplied for at least several generations. On the morning of November 22, at the age of 71, he suddenly received a phone call saying that one of his family’s ancestral graves seemed to have been "loosened" recently.

　　This ancestral grave of the Han family is located in a bamboo forest, and the linear distance from the nearest house is less than 20 meters. To this end, he rushed to the scene and found that the soil on the tomb had been dug in many places, but the stone on the tomb door had not been opened. "This place is a main road, and no one has seen anyone come during the day." Han suspected that someone was eyeing his ancestral grave, wanted to rob the tomb, and judged that those people would come again.

　　Due to the age, the ancestral grave door of the Han family has been buried by mud, leaving only a stone engraved with inscriptions exposed. "People who are not around here may not think it is a tomb." Han also said that he had learned from his grandfather that someone in his family ancestors was a juren in the Qing Dynasty and was buried in this tomb after his death.

　　▲ The suspect Zeng identified the scene.

　　Grave robbery:

　　Learning novels, lighting candles in the tomb

　　Four people ganged up to rob the tomb and were arrested one after another.

　　In order not to alarm the grass, on the evening of November 22, Han and the local president and others hid in the citrus forest behind the cemetery in advance to "wait for the rabbit."

　　At 10 o’clock that night, Han heard someone walking around the cemetery, but did not see the lights. "We are far apart, and we are not sure how many people there are." Han and others stayed until the early morning of the next day, during which someone’s phone rang. Fearing that the grave robbers would escape early after hearing this, they immediately called the police station to tell them about it.

　　"I caught three people at that time." Chen Lin, a policeman from Fengyu Police Station of Yanjiang Branch of Ziyang Public Security Bureau, said that after they arrived at the scene, they arrested three men, one of whom was found by the police while hiding in the ditch. Afterwards, Zeng, who was familiar with the terrain and fled, realized that he could not escape after all and surrendered himself on November 23.

　　▲ The suspect lit a candle in the northwest of the tomb according to the routine in the tomb robbery novel.

　　Zeng is a native of Yanjiang, and the other three arrested Yao Mosai, Cong and Yao Mouwei are from Anhui. According to the police, that night, after opening the tomb, the four men studied the bridge in the novel, lit a candle in the tomb, and then stole a porcelain pillow from the tomb. However, the police who arrived soon caught it. In the escape, Yao Mosai broke the porcelain pillow.

　　At present, according to the preliminary appraisal by the Cultural Management Institute of Yanjiang District, ziyang, the stolen ancient tomb was built in the late Qing Dynasty. However, the specific age and whether the porcelain pillow is a cultural relic are waiting for further identification by the cultural relics department at a higher level.

　　▲ Porcelain pillow stolen by the suspect from the tomb and broken when fleeing.

　　Account:

　　After reading tomb-robbing novels, join a group to get to know each other.

　　Several people took risks to repay the loan

　　Why did three Anhui men get in touch with Zeng of Ziyang Yanjiang?

　　According to Zeng’s account, he had joined a QQ group named "Notes on Tomb Robbery in the North School" because he had read the novel of tomb robbery, and posted photos of suspected ancient tombs seen near his home in the group. Soon after, Yao Mosai took the initiative to add Zeng as a friend and said that he was "very interested" and wanted to come to him, promising to let him "take the big head" if he dug up something.

　　▲ The suspects get to know each other in the group of "tomb-robbing novels" and discuss how to commit crimes and divide the spoils.

　　After investigation by the police, on November 19th, Yao Mosai invited Yao Mouwei to drive from Anhui to Fengyu Town. After they met and stepped on the spot, they bought shovels, crowbars, flashlights, candles and other tools in the town, and started to work on the evening of November 20th. The four people have a clear division of labor. Zeng is responsible for watching the wind, Yao Mosai is responsible for positioning, and Cong and Yao Mouwei are responsible for mining. However, due to the lack of preparation tools, the four men dug for two consecutive nights and did not pry open the stone on the tomb door. On the evening of November 22, the four men who started for the third time finally pried open the tomb door to carry out the theft, and were arrested one after another.

　　When talking about why he took risks, Yao Mosai told the police that several of them were short of money. He also borrowed about 8,000 yuan a month, and it took several thousand yuan to repay the loan from a certain person and Yao Mouwei every month.

　　At present, four people have been criminally detained by the police and the case is under further investigation.

　　Photo courtesy of Liu Yuntao Red Star journalist Yao Yongzhong police