Police arrested nine people involved in the death of a Beijing policeman, in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, a local district Procuratorate said Thursday.

Liu Limin, a Taiyuan policeman, and eight others beat to death a Beijing policeman, who was on a tour of Taiyuan. They were arrested on charges of murder, according to the Yingze District Procuratorate in Taiyuan.

The procuratorate found that on May 3 Beijing policeman Li Zhongyi quarreled with Liu Limin after they came across at a crossroads. Thinking that he had suffered losses, Liu Limin called eight others including his two friends to the Tangdu Hotel, where Li was staying.

When Li returned to the hotel at 8:00 PM the same day, Liu and his accomplices surrounded Li and beat him with wooden sticks and aluminum alloy pipes. Li died after failing to respond to medical treatment.

Both Beijing and Shanxi police bureaus said that it is just a common criminal case because both policemen were on vacation and did not show their police identity.

"It's a tragedy caused by personal rage," said Shi Shuihong, spokesperson for Taiyuan police bureau. He attributed the case to Liu's lax morals and bad temper. An official with the Ministry of Public Security said that the case is random and does not reflect on the police force as a whole.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2005)