[Anchor]

The lead investigator in charge of the Jang Yoon-gi case at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station was arrested on the morning of July 6. Circumstances suggesting that the team leader attempted to destroy evidence have been discovered. The National Police Agency announced that it would exclude the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency from the chain of command and conduct a separate investigation into the misconduct.

Our first report is from reporter Kim su-yun.

[Reporter]

The individual arrested by the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency yesterday morning is Inspector A, the team leader at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station who was investigating the case of Jang Yoon-gi, who is accused of murdering a high school girl.

The police explained that they had confirmed some evidence of tampering during the fact-finding process, and they even took the unusual step of disclosing the exact time of the emergency arrest: 7:11 a.m.

The police emphasized that they plan to conduct a rigorous investigation into all related personnel, including the team leader and other team members.

Previously, an exclusive report by SBS on July 1 revealed that Jang Yoon-gi's father, who is also a police officer, had disposed of life-sized dolls that served as evidence related to his son's sex crimes.

The following day, July 2, the National Police Agency launched an inspection into the overall investigation of the Jang Yoon-gi case, citing the gravity of the matter. With the arrest of the team leader, whose misconduct was confirmed, the inspection has been converted into a formal investigation after four days.

As the police intensify their investigation, attention is focused on whether allegations of collusion between the investigation team and the suspect's father, Inspector Jang, will be uncovered.

This follows previous SBS reports revealing that a police officer from the Gwangju Gwangsan investigation team facilitated a phone call between Inspector Jang and his son, Jang Yoon-gi, who was in custody, just before the father discarded two life-sized dolls from his son's studio apartment.

[Official at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station: This is not a situation where I can give interviews or answer questions. (Regarding whether there were professional ties from working at other precincts...) Please stop now.]

Hong Seok-gi, the new head of the National Office of Investigation, stated during his first regular press conference yesterday that he had "nothing to say" regarding the situation, but signaled a high-intensity investigation by adding, "I have ordered a strict investigation. We will stake the reputation of the agency on this."

(Video reporting: Jeong Gyeong-mun, Video editing: Lee Sang-min, Design: Lee So-jeong)