Fu Xiang has been charged with inventing and spreading rumors about a bomb threat, the Hongkou District Prosecutors' Office said, according to a Xinmin Evening News report.

Fu, a 43-year-old Jilin Province native, allegedly dialed police twice on May 13 and claimed someone was about to detonate a bomb in a ballroom on Zhapu Road. The city's emergency response center dispatched more than 20 riot police and anti-terror experts as well as two fire engines to the scene upon receiving the false report, the newspaper said.

Crowds of people gathered, which blocked traffic for more than one hour, the report said.

According to prosecutors, Fu and his friends were in the ballroom that afternoon. He met the former owner, Yuan Jun, a pseudonym, in the bathroom.

According to the report, Fu disliked Yuan after he had previously turned down Fu's offer to manage the ballroom. Upon seeing Yuan again, Fu decided to take revenge and he made the two hoax phone calls, according to the report.

(Shanghai Daily June 23, 2008)