Long arm of law catches up with China bone breakers

SHANGHAI, May 29 (Reuters) A Shanghai gang of nine who helped break each others' arms and then jumped off building sites to win compensation were jailed for extorting 100,000 yuan (13,000 dollar) from their bosses, local media said today.

A Shanghai court handed down three-year jail terms to the gang's ringleaders, surnamed Cheng and Yang, who helped seven men get jobs on construction sites around the city, the Shanghai Daily said.

''Shortly after the men started work, Cheng and Yang visited them and fractured their arms with iron bars. The men then threw themselves off heights in the building site, pretending to have broken their arms in the fall,'' the paper said.

Cheng and Yang would pose as relatives of the injured men and demand compensation from site managers, claiming the fracture was the result of an industrial accident.

The gang extorted 100,000 yuan from seven bosses between October and January, the paper said, citing police.

Reutrtd AGL GC0924