Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Central China's Henan Province Photo: VCG

Police in Central China have caught 16 gangsters led by a former monk reportedly from Shaolin Temple and will invite the public to share their insights into the gang's crimes at a public meeting on Thursday. 

Police in the city of Yanshi, Henan Province issued a notice Tuesday, saying they had busted a gang led by Shi Yongxu. The police invited residents to come and identify their crimes at the meeting. 

A police officer responsible for this case told the Global Times Wednesday that serious criminals had been detained including Shi. 

"The meeting aims to encourage residents to provide more clues as some insignificant figures in the gang are still at large," the officer said.  He declined to be fully named and refused to disclose what kind of crime the gang members had committed. 

Shi was born in Henan in 1969 and has attended events as the deputy head of Buddhist Association of Yanshi and member of the Yanshi committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, according to The Beijing News. 

In a report by China News Service in 2017, Shi is the 33rd generation of Shaolin discipline and was in charge of kung fu monks. 

Shi used to run a shop in the temple after becoming a monk, but he was not a master, a staff member at Shaolin Temple told The Beijing News. The article did not name the staff member.

Shi left the temple in the 1990s. No other monks followed him, said the staff member.  

China launched a three-year campaign in early 2018 against gangs and organized crimes, which also targeted officials who shelter criminal organizations.