Hong Kong police detained four more people Saturday for possessing racy photos depicting what appeared to be local pop stars, in the latest episode of a scandal started with the on-line circulation of such photos last week.

The three men and a woman knew each other and were arrested late Friday and early Saturday, said Tang King-shing, commissioner of police of Hong Kong.

The suspects, aged 29 to 31, were being detained for further investigation, Tang said, adding that officers were working to stop circulation of the photos with the help of Internet service providers and overseas law enforcement agencies.

The law in Hong Kong, China's southern special administrative region, stipulates that it is not necessarily against the law to possess indecent photos but those who have many such photos may be arrested for intending to circulate or sell them.

The arrests came two days after a 29-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with circulating the photos on-line.

He was found to have 12 such photos, local media reported.

The case had been adjourned till March 28 without parole.

The four suspects detained on Saturday were not connected with him, police said.

The photos had been circulated on-line since January 27, with a mysterious man reportedly releasing the partially nude photos according to an announced schedule.

Police were still trying to find the first releaser of the photos and Tang, the police chief, had warned against possessing and circulating the indecent photos.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2008)