Police in western Shaanxi Province are seeking a post office driver suspected of stealing 1.1 million yuan (US$135,600) on Monday.

Officers in Baoji, a city in the northwest China province, are offering a 30,000 yuan (US$3,700) reward for information about the theft.

According to local police sources, the suspect, Tan Jianshe, 30, a driver working for the city's Chencang Post Office, is believed to have stolen the cash from an armoured van he had driven from a bank to the post office.

At about 9 am, Tan drove the vehicle and two guards to the post office.

When the two guards got out and entered the post office, he drove the vehicle away, Duan Dadui, head of the Chencang criminal police brigade under the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau, said yesterday.

"When we came back 10 minutes later, we found Tan and the vehicle had disappeared," said the two guards, refusing to mention their names.

The two guards immediately reported the case to the leaders of the post office and local police.

The vehicle was found abandoned on a suburban road at about 1 pm that day.

According to the two guards, the money was kept in a safety-deposit box in the vehicle.

But when police found the van, the box had been opened without being forced, Duan said.

"We consider Tan is the suspect who took the money away, and we are investigating where he is and how he opened the box," a police spokesman said.

Tan Jianshe lives in Qidong village in Chencang District.

He had worked as a driver of money-carrying vehicles for five years for the post office, said Li Zhongxiu, official with the Baoji Post Office.

"There are some problems on our management and supervision that left chances for Tan to take advantage," Li said.

Another post office official, who was unwilling to disclose his name, said: "At least two persons a driver and a guard should be on the vehicle when there is money."

Li said: "The money lost is postal savings, and the business of the local post office is continuing properly. The case will not have any influence on our depositors. If the money cannot be recovered, we will pay it out of our income."

(China Daily December 2, 2005)