Modern Mysteries

500 detained in China over doomsday rumors

By T.K. Randall
December 18, 2012 ·  29 comments

Image Credit: NASA The arrests were carried out across eight provinces and included several members of a fringe Christian group called 'Almighty God'. Authorities seized leaflets, books and DVDs designed to promote the idea that the world is coming to an end on December 21st.

Among those arrested were four doom-sayers who had been preaching through a loudspeaker to people in the streets. Thirty-seven members of the 'Amighty God' group were also picked up in northwest China's Qinghai province while four more were detained in the Inner Mongolia region on suspicion of swindling elderly people living in some of the country's remote mountainous areas.

Update: The number of arrests have risen to include over 400 members of the 'Amighty God' group. A disciple of a suspected doomsday cult has also been arrested following a knife attack on more than 20 children.[!gad]The arrests were carried out across eight provinces and included several members of a fringe Christian group called 'Almighty God'. Authorities seized leaflets, books and DVDs designed to promote the idea that the world is coming to an end on December 21st.

Among those arrested were four doom-sayers who had been preaching through a loudspeaker to people in the streets. Thirty-seven members of the 'Amighty God' group were also picked up in northwest China's Qinghai province while four more were detained in the Inner Mongolia region on suspicion of swindling elderly people living in some of the country's remote mountainous areas.

Update: The number of arrests have risen to include over 400 members of the 'Amighty God' group. A disciple of a suspected doomsday cult has also been arrested following a knife attack on more than 20 children.

Source: BBC News | Comments (29)

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