Police chief handling rumor teen's arrest suspended

The director of a county public security bureau that detained a 16-year-old boy for writing an online post has been suspended from his duties, according to a local government website.

The information was posted around 11:30 pm on Monday on the website of the Zhangjiachuan Hui autonomous county, Gansu province, where the director, Bai Yongqiang, worked.

No reason for the suspension was given.

A 16-year-old boy surnamed Yang was taken into custody on Sept 17 after county police claimed he encouraged others to protest a police report about a man's death.

Though the boy was released on Monday morning, the detention sparked widespread criticism and many netizens accused the local government of abusing its power.

The local government told Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday that Bai's suspension is unrelated to the detention of the boy.

According to a report in Beijing Times, after the detention of the boy, a case involving Bai posted on April 9 on the website of the Wuwei (the city Zhangjiachuan county belongs to) Intermediate People's Court was shared by netizens.

In the case, Bai was found by the court to have presented 50,000 yuan ($8,170) to an official who was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Jan 21.