China police looking for 88 Lhasa rioters

The Chinese police are still looking for 88 suspects in the March 14 riot in the Tibetan capital, a public security official said in Lhasa on Friday.

"We have sufficient evidence against 170 people, 82 of whom have been formally arrested, but the remaining 88 are still at large," Jiang Zaiping, deputy director of Lhasa's public security bureau, said at a press conference.

He declined to give details on the evidence or the legal proceedings against those arrested.

Of the 82 arrested, Jiang said 11 had surrendered to the police.

A total of 365 suspects in the riot have so far surrendered to the police and at least 328 of them have been freed, as their offences were minor in nature, Jiang added.

"Locals helped the police identify the suspects and many even accompanied investigators to the suspects' possible hideouts," said Jiang.

The municipal administration has earmarked one million yuan ($143,000) to build new dwellings for 59 people whose houses on the downtown East Beijing Road were destroyed by mobs during the riot.