Local police in Tianmen City, Hubei Province, detained Sun Daibang, the team leader in charge of discipline inspection of the city's Urban Administration Department, for his misleading conduct during a departmental act on January 7 which killed one passer-by and injured at least five villagers, the city government revealed last Saturday in Wuhan City, the provincial capital.

At the same time, the city government removed Qi Zhengjun, Director of the Urban Administration Department, for investigation. Chen Haiyang, a Standing Committee member of the city's Party Committee, replaced Qi as the new director.

More than 50 city administrators got involved in a conflict with local farmers from Wanba village. They strongly opposed the officials who wanted to dump rubbish on their land. Two years ago, the city government purchased land near a roadside in the village for use as a landfill to bury rubbish. When the contract expired on January 1, the local farmers were no longer willing to renew the contract, according to an injured villager in the accident as reported by the Chutian Metropolis Daily. "Our drinking water stinks from the nearby smell of massive rubbish," he said.

Yet city administrators kept carrying trucks of rubbish to the landfill every day despite expired legal rights. The officials' arrogance at last ignited the villagers' anger on January 7 when they protested against the incessant infringements. Violence erupted between the two parties as the government officials fought with protesting villagers.

The administrators beat to death Wei Wenhua, Manager of the Tianmen Water Conservancy Architectural Company. As a bystander he was trying to photograph the spot in question with his mobile phone. The officials did not stop their attack after Wei gave his cell phone to them and raised his hands. The police controlled more than 20 suspects involving in the violence and detained four of them after the accident.

The administration department stopped operating after the incident. The office building gates had been shut until January 12, the Beijing News reported today. The case is still under investigation.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, January 14, 2008)