Forensic experts and doctors performed a postmortem on the body of 22-year-old university student who was suspected to have been beaten to death by policemen in a nightclub fight, but they didn't reach any immediate conclusions on the direct cause of the death.

The victim, Lin Songling, and his friends got in a quarrel with six cops in front of a nightclub on Oct. 11 in the Harbin City, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Lin had allegedly chided one of the police officers for speed driving, the city police bureau official told Xinhua last week.

Lin was later found dead at the scene and several others from both sides were injured, the official said.

The six policemen, aged between 28 and 31, drove two cars to the bar after a private get-together and were not wearing police uniforms. All of them were taken into custody to be questioned within 12 hours after the fight, he said.

On Saturday, seven forensic experts and doctors, including three invited by the dead man's family, spent four hours examining the bodies, said Lu Hongxi, deputy city police chief.

Lu said the examiners were cautious and meticulous and didn't provide immediate conclusions on what immediately led to the death. The samples will be sent to a lab in Shanghai for further test.

The police authorities had hoped to have postmortem completed immediately after the Lin's death, but his family insisted to hold it until they found their own experts to participate "to ensure the justice of the test", he said.

The police have promised impartial handling of the incident.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2008)