Three men who allegedly planted home-made time bombs in a packed restaurant in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, have been arrested by local police.
"After 32 hours of thorough investigation, the last suspect was arrested early Sunday morning, meaning all three suspects of the criminal case, Weng Guangrong, 30, Lan Fugang, 31 and Huang Xiaohu, 28, have been arrested," said You Ming, director of the Investigation Department of the Xi'an Public Security Bureau.
About 1 pm on Friday, the busy restaurant received a telephone call from a man saying five bombs had been put in the building and they would explode at 3:40 pm if 350,000 yuan (US$42,168) was not paid to him, according to local police.
Police officers went to the restaurant and evacuated the premises, sealing off the area. They searched the restaurant and about 3:40 pm, a bomb exploded in the men's toilet - no one was injured.
Police say they later found another two home-made time bombs in the restaurant. "After careful searching, we ascertained that there were only three bombs in the restaurant," You said.
More than 70 police went to the site where the suspect wanted to receive the money. Weng was the first of the trio arrested, on Saturday. He allegedly told police about his accomplices.
Police claim Weng said he and the others put the explosive devices in the building about 11 am on Friday and then made the phone call. All three are in custody and the police investigation is continuing.
(China Daily October 15, 2002)
