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China arrests over beating death Killing sparks protests in China
(about 11 hours later)
At least 24 people have been questioned in China, following the death of a man who had been filming local officials abusing the public in Hubei province. The beating to death of a man who filmed a dispute between officials and villagers in China on his mobile phone has prompted a nationwide outcry.
Those being questioned include members of an unpopular security force employed by police to tackle minor crime. Thousands of people have been posting messages on Chinese websites calling for the government agency involved in the incident to be abolished.
The incident was sparked by a row over a rubbish dump that residents said was too close to their homes. There have also been large demonstrations in the province of Hubei where the attack occurred.
Land grabs are a contentious issue in China, where the rural poor feel they miss out on urban economic advances. Local police questioned 24 people over the killing, four remain in custody.
China's state news agency Xinhua said the dispute began when local people attempted to stop a rubbish truck from dumping rubbish near their village. Calls for a rethink
Members of the city's management police, the Chengguan, intervened and Wei Wenhua, manager of a construction company in Tianmen City, began filming the confrontation on his mobile phone. The dispute was began when local people attempted to stop a rubbish truck from dumping refuse at a site that they argued was too close to their village, China state media reported.
When the Chengguan demanded that Mr Wei delete the images he refused. He was then attacked and beaten to death, said witnesses. Members of the Chinese municipal inspectors, known as the Chengguan, intervened.
Mr Wei was taken to hospital but doctors told Xinhua that he had stopped breathing by the time he arrived. The victim, Wei Wenhua, the manager of a construction company in Tianmen City, was driving by and stopped to film the confrontation on his mobile phone.
The Chengguan are an official agency employed by cities across China to tackle low-level crime. When Mr Wei refused the Chengguan's demands that he delete the footage, he was beaten to death on the spot, according to witnesses cited by the Xinhua news agency.
A BBC correspondent in Beijing, Michael Bristow, said the agency was widely disliked in China for some of its members' alleged abuses of power. Communist Party chief of Tianmen City, Bie Bixiong, told Xinhua that those responsible would be punished according to the law.
Bie Bixiong, Communist Party chief of Tianmen City, told Xinhua that those responsible would be punished according to the law and held accountable for any dereliction of duty. The death has triggered not only protests in his home town but sparked a nationwide call for a rethink of the very establishment of the Chengguan.
Chinese internet users are posting comments with titles such as "Municipal enforcers eliminating witness" and "How could they violate the law like this?"
Excessive force
The BBC's China editor Shirong Chen says that this is not the first time that the Chengguan have beaten someone to death.
Ever since the agency came into existence 10 years ago, there have been repeated criticism of them using excessive force.
This para-police force, equipped with steel helmets and stab-proof vests, is often used by local officials as trouble-shooters, he adds.
In 2003, the death in custody of a young man in south China resulted in the abolition of the notorious migrant detention system.
Now many Chinese hope the death of Mr Wei will bring down the municipal inspection apparatus itself, our correspondent says.