Now, Chinese prosecutors to use Internet to find criminals

New Delhi, July 23 (ANI): Prosecutors in Chongqing municipality in Southwest China have announced that they will use the Internet on a daily basis to look for information on criminals.

According to a China Daily report, the new rule is part of an ongoing anti-corruption effort.

The rule stipulates that procuratorates in Chongqing should set up a special team, or designate certain officers, to look for corruption-related clues from online sources.

China's procuratorate has a special division responsible for crimes involving dereliction of official duty, such as bribery and corruption. The police do not handle such cases.

"Before, most procuratorates, including us, collected complaints mainly through hotlines and our own reporting websites. Now, the Internet has become a new source," the paper quoted Lei Wanya, deputy procurator-general of Chongqing People's Procuratorate, as saying earlier this week.

"The country is facing rising social conflict and people's awareness as citizens is also improving," he said.

According to a recent survey, 99 percent of netizens would endeavor to expose incidents of social injustice online, he said.

"It is an irreversible trend that politics is entering the Internet age," he said. (ANI)