An official in Xuchang county, Henan province, was arrested on Thursday after he killed a man in a traffic accident while under the influence of alcohol and asked his wife to pretend to be the perpetrator.

Zu Jianli, deputy director of the county's forestry bureau, was driving home when his car hit a man named Xiao Xusheng at about 9 pm on May 7. Zu did not stop and left the scene of the accident, Dahe Daily, a local newspaper reported on Friday.

While fleeing, Zu hit an electric tricycle and injured its rider, who managed to write down the vehicle license plate of Zu's car.

Xiao died from his injuries at about 2 am on May 8 after emergency treatment in a local hospital. Police traced Zu from his vehicle license plate.

When police and forestry bureau officials contacted Zu, Zu's wife went to the county traffic police corps and said that she was driving the car and caused the accident.

At the insistence of Xiao's family members at the hospital, a forestry bureau official ordered Zu to attend the hospital as soon as possible. Zu agreed and later confessed he was responsible for the accident.

A blood test showed Zu had an ethanol reading of 96.36 per 100 milliliters of blood five hours after the accident occurred, indicating he had been driving while drunk.

Judicial proceedings have been launched against both Zu and his wife.

Contact the writer at malie@chinadaily.com.cn