Warrants have been issued for the arrest of three people, including two police, allegedly involved in an incident in Harbin last month in which a university graduate died, a public security official said on Tuesday.

The officers were identified as Liu Linan and Qi Xin. The third person, Yang Sen, was a classmate of the 22-year-old victim, said Lu Hongxi, deputy director of the public security bureau here in the capital of Heilongjiang Province.

Lu said that Yang, also 22, was suspected of injuring two other police and causing an escalation of the confrontation, while Liu and Qi were suspected of causing intentional injury.

Yang was charged with attacking three police in July 2006, after his car struck a taxi. He attacked the police who responded to the incident. He was subsequently fined by a court.

The victim, Lin, and some friends got into a dispute with six police in front of a nightclub on Oct. 11. Lin allegedly rebuked one of the police officers for speeding, according to earlier report.

Lin was later found dead at the scene of a cerebral hemorrhage, and an autopsy revealed that he had been beaten in the head with a blunt object. Several other people on both sides of the dispute were injured.

The six police, aged 28 to 31, were in street clothes when they drove two cars to the bar after a private get-together. All were taken into custody for questioning within 12 hours after the fight.

Four police remain free on bail, said Lu, who said that no evidence suggested they had committed a crime.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2008)