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Six cops held in death of graduate student

By He Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-15 07:51

CHANGCHUN: The Harbin police bureau in Heilongjiang province said on Monday that six police officers, suspected of killing a 22-year-old university graduate, have been detained.

Lu Hongxi, deputy chief of the police bureau, told a press conference that the suspects were detained within 10 hours after the incident and are still being questioned.

The bureau named those detained as Qi Xin, Li Feng, Li Xinyu, Wang Jingang, Luan Ao and Liu Linan.

They are from six different police units, and aged between 28 and 31.

The victim, Lin Songling, was allegedly beaten to death by the policemen outside a nightclub in Harbin on Saturday.

His parents have hired lawyers from Beijing.

The parents are also insisting that an autopsy on Lin be carried out by a pathologist from Beijing, the Changchun-based New Cultural View newspaper reported yesterday.

The policemen, all in plainclothes, are alleged to have had an argument with Lin and three of his friends.

The argument ensued into a fight at a parking lot near the nightclub, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Lin, 22, a graduate of Harbin Institute of Physical Education, died at the scene, and his friends received injuries.

Chen Liang, one of the injured, said: "Not until we were taken to the police station, did we realize that they were policemen."

On Sunday, the relatives of Lin blocked traffic near the nightclub, and placed his body in the middle of the road.

"We just celebrated my son's 22nd birthday. He graduated from university in July," Lin Jilin, the father, was quoted as saying by the Changchun newspaper.

"His 84-year-old grandmother still does not know of his death. What are we going to tell her," the father said.