A policeman is under investigation after he allegedly posted information on 11 innocent people as wanted criminals on a police Web site to fulfil a quota set by his superiors, a newspaper reported. The China Youth Daily reported on Monday that Zhang Tienan, an assistant captain of the Public Security Bureau of Dengta city, was accused of abuse of power and had been released on bail. According to the report, Liaoyang Public Security Bureau, which oversees Dengta city, issued a circular in July ordering the city's police to launch a three-month 'strike hard' anti-crime campaign. The circular specified that any officer would receive a merit award and 2,000 yuan (HK$1,840) if he captured a wanted criminal. It also encouraged police stations to separately reward their officers. After discussions with his colleagues, Zhang was said to have telephoned district-level police stations ordering them to supply information on wanted criminals. Although district officers told Zhang that they had no such information, they eventually gave him the names of 22 people. Of the group, 11 had committed minor offences and their cases had been closed. The district officers reminded Zhang that he should not post the names of the 11 as wanted criminals. Zhang ignored the warning. The cases of the other 11 were still open, but their alleged crimes were not viewed as serious. After the 'wanted warrants' were posted in July, one of the 11, Yang Chungang, was arrested two months later and assaulted by police. He was held in a detention centre for 20 days before he was able to complain to a senior officer at the centre. The complaint led to a full investigation.