Gangsters instigated '08 riot

15 officials arrested for 'providing protection' to criminals

BEIJING - Police in Southwest China's Guizhou province have busted five criminal gangs involved in a riot in Weng'an county in 2008 and arrested 15 local officials who allegedly "provided protection" to the outfits, a top official said on Friday.

A total of 240 gangsters have so far received sentences up to life behind bars for inciting or being involved in the riot, which left more than 150 people injured, Cui Yadong, director of the Guizhou provincial public security department and deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), said on the sidelines of the annual session last week in Beijing.