Police looking into claim officers beat protesting teachers

Police in Lu'an, in East China's Anhui province, are aware of a claim that police officers beat teachers at a protest on Sunday, the city's public security bureau said on Sina Weibo.

The bureau said members of the public were welcome to report any evidence the beatings occurred and any police found to have been involved would be "dealt with seriously".

On Sunday morning, about 40 teachers from Jin'an and Yu'an districts gathered at the south gate of the city government headquarters to petition the authorities over a salary dispute, the bureau said. Police arrived at the scene to discourage the gathering. 

Some teachers refused to leave and seriously disrupted public order, it said. After repeated persuasion, the police took some teachers back to the public security bureau in accordance with the law, it said, adding that they were picked up by school officials before 3 pm. 

The bureau said police will investigate a WeChat article, since deleted, that was headlined "Lu'an teachers beaten by the police due to rights protection" and will announce the result in a timely manner.