A burglar murdered a sleeping county official by almost cutting off his head in a bizarre break-in, police in Qingyuan County said yesterday.

The victim, Wu Xianmin, 41, deputy head of the Qingyuan County federation for disabled people in east China's Zhejiang Province, was found dead in bed with his head nearly severed last Thursday, according to his wife.

"He was still sleeping about 9a.m. when I went out. But when I went back one hour later, I found him murdered, maybe killed with a knife. The bed was all red because of the blood," she told police.

Wu previously worked as vice chairman of the federation of trade unions in the county. Police said an initial investigation showed the suspect broke in, but nothing in the room was stolen.

Police said they were hunting for a thin man, about 170 centimeters tall.

Police have offered a reward of 20,000 yuan (US$ 2,900) for information leading to an arrest.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2008)