A MAN has been arrested for allegedly killing 11 people in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, police authorities said yesterday.

    A large amount of physical evidence and DNA comparisons show that Zhang Yongming, from Nanmen Village, Jinning County, killed the 11 males, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

    The statement did not reveal the range of the victims’ ages, but said local police authorities have contacted the victims’ families.

    Following an investigation of more than 20 days by the ministry and local police authorities, the 56-year-old suspect was arrested on charges of murder, it said.

    Zhang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for murder in 1979. He was freed and returned home in 1997 after receiving a number of sentence reductions.

    The investigation shows that Zhang attacked males who walked alone on the quiet road near his home, where he has lived alone since 2008.

    After the murders, Zhang used means including dismemberment, burning and burial to destroy or hide evidence, the police statement said.

    The Ministry of Public Security has pledged to work with local authorities to punish any police officers found to be guilty of dereliction of duty. The county police chief and head of the local police station were sacked May 23.

    Earlier media reports said 17 people had gone missing over the past few years in Jinning County, some of them teenagers and the eldest about 80 years old. Local police later confirmed that eight young men have been reported missing in the township since 2007. (Xinhua)