About 150 suicides prevented by police crackdown on Internet crimes

BEIJING -- A total of 152 people were stopped from committing suicide during a national police operation against internet crimes, the Ministry of Public Security said Thursday.

Police in eastern China's Zhejiang province discovered 88 leads to internet-related suicide pacts by May, which helped to prevent these people from committing suicide, said Zhang Hongye, a senior officer with the ministry, at a press conference briefing the progress of the operation against internet crimes that started in January.

"An increasing number of depressed people met through the internet and encouraged each other to commit suicide together," Zhang said. "Also a few individuals intentionally lured and provoked people to commit mass suicide. They seriously undermined people's safety and social stability."

Police have been aware of the danger of these activities and listed them as a priority in the operation, he said.

Zhejiang police also discovered 215 leads online that led to the investigation of 101 criminal cases and the detention of 271 suspects.

In these cases, suspects mostly initiated criminal activities, such as contract killing, and communicated through the internet, Zhang said.