Two migrant workers who made a living reporting fake "brand-name" cigarette manufacturers to claim government rewards were brutally beaten to death in Puning, Guangdong Province.

The incident has focused widespread attention on "bounty hunters" such as these, reports New Express News.

Qiu Xinrong and Li Yongping were staking out a fake brand-name cigarette workshop in a village in Puning on August 10 when they were attacked, said their partner, Li Xiuming.

He received a cellphone call from Qiu at about 5:25 pm - "They are beating us," Qiu screamed before the line went dead.

Li Xiuming arrived at the site accompanied by police to find the men's blood-covered bodies.

A shed housing an imitation cigarette-making operation was found some 150 metres away.

Several suspects were arrested, but so far the "bosses" remain at large, police said.

The Puning Municipal Tobacco Patent Bureau has been offering rewards for information on fake brand-name cigarette production in order to crack down on such outfits, for which the city is notorious.

Informers can receive 21,000 yuan (US$2,500), reduced from the former 34,000 yuan (US$4,100) as of August 1, for the seizure of one cigarette-making machine.

Despite the considerable risks, many migrant workers find the compensation attractive.

More than 100 natives from Qiu and Li's hometown of Ningdu in Jiangxi Province, have also been scouring Puning looking for illegal cigarette workshops. Numerous bounty hunters from Sichuan and Guizhou provinces have been drawn by the reward money as well.

To date, China has no system to protect "independent" informers, said Zhong Wendong, a official with the Guangzhou Lawyers' Association.

"Beatings are common for us," said another Ningdu native who identified himself as Li. He has been tracking down such illegal operations since 1999.

But many have decided to quit since Qiu and Li were killed.

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