A man suspected of killing a soldier 11 years ago to steal his gun has been caught, police said on Tuesday.

Liang Kaiwu, a farmer in Sichuan province, has been charged with killing a soldier and a teller.

In the early hours of Dec 1, 2002, a teller for a company in Ziyang city was shot dead by two men, who fled after taking 410,000 yuan ($65,000) in cash.

On May 14 this year, the Ministry of Public Security identified Liang as a suspect. He had been wanted for burglary.

"Police officers from Ziyang went to different parts of Sichuan and even neighboring Shaanxi province to look for Liang," said Feng Ping, an information officer in Ziyang.

On May 26, police captured the suspect in a rented apartment in Suining, Sichuan. Authorities say he confessed to killing the teller with his cousin, Shi Shengqiang, who was detained two days later.

"After Liang was captured, police found an automatic rifle and 54 bullets he had buried in a cellar in his home village of Wutong," Feng said.

Police said Liang also confessed to killing an on-duty soldier in Shaanxi's Fengxian county on Aug 30, 2002, and stealing his automatic rifle.