A suspect was detained on Monday for spreading rumors on the Internet that seven police officers died in an explosion in the downtown area of Jieshou city in East China's Anhui province.

The 32-year-old suspect, surnamed Xu, said in a post on his micro blog on Saturday afternoon that seven policemen died in front of the gate of Jieshou Public Security Bureau after an explosion that morning, according to anhuinews.com, a website run by the provincial government.

The post was forwarded thousands of times. At around 3:20 pm, local police said on their verified micro blog that no explosions had occurred in the city. Police also said they would investigate the rumor and punish the person responsible for it.

Xu apologized for telling lies to the public through his micro blog on Sunday, and he was taken back to Jieshou by police from Shanghai, where he worked on Monday, the report said.

Xu told police that he concocted the fake news to promote his micro blog and attract more followers.

Xu will remain in custody for several days because he disturbed public order, the website quoted a police officer in Jieshou Public Security Bureau as saying.