‘Connected’ beggar detained

A beggar has been detained for 10 days for trying to intimidate a metro official into letting him go, police said Monday.

A metro supervisor surnamed Xu found the beggar plying his trade Sunday in Zhaojiabang Road Station on metro Line 7, according to the microblog of a metro police official. When Xu confronted the beggar, he took out a cellphone and made a call.

The beggar asked Xu which department he worked for and told him he was calling his boss to show he had a connection with the higher-ups in the metro system.

Xu didn't buy the claim and had the beggar arrested.

Metro police said they have been cracking down on begging. They asked passengers to report beggars by sending a message to the account "metro police 110" on the instant messaging service WeChat.