Riot police in Beijing shot dead a man suspected of kidnapping and rescued a hostage five days after she was taken, officers announced on Thursday.

According to a local newspaper, police also captured four other suspects.

Li Ye, 20, pointing a dagger at the woman's neck was shot dead by a riot policeman, the report said.

The shooting occurred as four police cars closed in on Li, another suspect and the victim on an expressway in a remote area of Hebei's border with Tianjin.

The victim was only identified as Wang. She studied at a university in the Yizhuang economic development zone in southeast Beijing.

She was on her way to a shopping center when three men kidnapped her late last Thursday, police said.

The kidnappers drove her to a building in Langfang City, Hebei Province, which borders Beijing. They called her home in Liaoning Province and demanded 30,000 yuan (US$3,750) in ransom, the report said. Wang's brother arrived in Beijing last Friday and reported to police.

On Tuesday, Beijing police focused on three men, Li from Shandong Province, and Lan Meng and Ding Yu from Hebei.

With help from their counterparts in Hebei, officers approached the building where Li and Lan were holding Wang captive on Tuesday. After a 40-minute negotiation, the duo promised not to harm her. They were allowed to leave the house with the victim in a car they parked outside.

(Shanghai Daily November 10, 2006)