16 held over Guangzhou park attack

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-15 07:47

GUANGZHOU -- Guangzhou police have arrested 16 suspects involved in violent activity in the city a week ago and are still trying to track down those at large.

Officers confiscated a slew of tools used in acts of crime, including a pistol and bullets, the news office of the public security bureau said yesterday.

According to a bulletin released on the official website of the municipal police, the suspects were arrested in the cities of Shenzhen, Huizhou and Chaozhou from last Saturday to early yesterday morning.

Violence erupted last Tuesday morning when a 40-strong mob armed with pistols, shotguns, iron bars, broadswords and harpoons smashed the switch-room, gate, square and dormitories at Guangzhou World Panorama, once a very popular theme park in the urban district of Tianhe.

At least six guards were injured.

One of them was shot in the shoulder.

Four injured personnel are still in hospital, according to the Grand World Scenic Park Co Ltd, the owner of the entertainment ground.

According to the bulletin, the man behind the incident was the boss of Guangdong Yongshida Investment Management Co Ltd, a tenant of Guangzhou World Panorama.

The violence is the culmination of several economic disputes over contract, power supply and dormitory space, as well as fights between the tenant and the property owner since 2005.

An executive with Guangzhou World Panorama, who identified himself as He, said yesterday that the tenant owed over 1 million yuan ($140,000) to the owner in terms of rent and other expenses, and the recent move of cutting the power supply to the tenant might have finally triggered the attempt of revenge.

City resident Chen Liangxiao just shook his head at the occurrence of such a violent case in the city.

"I just can't imagine how such a crime could have happened in downtown Guangzhou," he said.

"Can such violence occur without any warning signs?"

Chen said he hoped the Guangzhou police would teach the criminals involved a good lesson with an iron fist and thus keep the city's law and order situation under control.