Two men in Shanghai have been arrested on suspicions they spread a rumor that thieves were threatening to inject people with a needle full of AIDS infected blood if they didn't hand over their belongings.

The rumors have been a very hot topic on busses, subways and the Internet since last week.

Police said they have investigated the stories about needle attacks and found them to be totally baseless.

The two suspects, a man surnamed Wu and a vocational school student surnamed Gui, have been detained on charges of disturbing social order.

Police said their investigation showed the rumor originated from a private talk between two vocational school students recently.

Wu, who lives in Jiading District, overheard the discussion and posted a story about it in an online chatroom, according to police. From there, the rumor spread quickly throughout the city.

Gui also heard the story and sent a short message about it to many of his friends, creating a second channel for the rumor to spread, police said.

(Shanghai Daily December 21, 2005)