Beijing, October 8: China on Monday confirmed the detention of former Chinese head of Interpol Meng Hongwei, who went missing last month. "Meng Hongwei accepted bribes and is suspected of violating the law," China's public security ministry said in a statement. The minsitry added that others who took bribe would be investigated.

The ministry said the investigation against Hongwei is "very timely, absolutely correct and rather wise". On Sunday, The International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly referred to as Interpol, is a France-based global police coordination body, said in a tweet that Hongwei had resigned from his post. He disappeared last week after he went to his home country, China.

On Sunday, Hongwei's wife, who remained in France with their two children, said that her last contact with him came via a WhatsApp text message with a knife emoji and the instructions, "Wait for my call." Hongwei, a high ranking member of China's Communist Party, was elected as head of Interpol in 2016, replacing Mireille Ballestrazzi.

Interpol had asked Chinese authorities to clarify the status of Meng Hongwei. In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said, "Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels clarification from China's authorities on the status of Interpol President Meng Hongwei."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 08, 2018 12:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).