Official detained for spreading rumors

An official in Central China's Hunan Province has been detained for spreading rumors about a local restaurant. Over the course of this month he was investigated by local police and accused of defaming the restaurant's credibility and the reputation of its dishes, the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

The deputy head of the housing and urban-rural development bureau in the city of Yueyang, surnamed Luo, reportedly held a grudge against the owner of a local fish restaurant, the report said.

Using the online nickname "a scavenger in Rongjiawan," Luo spread online rumors in January 2011 saying that the owner had been using swill as oil in his dishes.

After this post was carried by local media, the reputation of the restaurant fell dramatically, as did its business.

However, an investigation conducted by the local quality supervision bureau showed that the cooking oil used in the restaurant was satisfactory.

Luo then used another online nickname "White-hair man" to continue spreading rumors, saying that the supervision bureau had received bribes of 600,000 yuan ($98,040) from the restaurant, which had "negative influences on Yueyang," Xinhua reported.

The report explained that due to limited technological expertise within the local police, the suspect was not identified until this month.

A nationwide campaign to crack down on Internet rumors has been conducted since August, with a number of rumormongers arrested.