Chinese police arrested 9,110 homicide-linked fugitives last year aided by a computer network, according to China's Ministry of Public Security.

These include Qiu Xinghua, who killed the abbot, five staff workers and four pilgrims in a temple of northwest China's Shaanxi Province last July because he suspected the abbot had an affair with his wife.

Chinese police put information about fugitives linked to serious offences on an internal computer network. Using information on the network, policemen of various regions can easily check whether the man they have got hold on is a homicide-linked fugitive.

According to the ministry, Chinese police cracked 91.4 percent of registered homicide cases in 2006, up 3.16 percentage points over the previous year.

Chinese police also cracked more than 1.5 million robbery and theft cases last year, up 5.4 percent compared with 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)