Authorities in Hotan Prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are offering 100 million yuan (14.5 million US dollars) in rewards for anti-terror tips, the local newspaper Hotan Daily has reported, a week after attackers killed five people in the region.
Officials are offering large rewards to people with information on violations ranging from radical religious practices to violent attacks, the report said.
The rewards go up to five million yuan (730,000 US dollars) for verifiable "operational inside information" on plans for attacks in crowded areas or at government offices.
Awards for "reporting violent terrorists and religious extremists establishing ties, or inciting or swearing oaths of holy war, or clues on the organization of illegal cross-border entry and exit" range between two and three million yuan (290,000-440,000 US dollars), the report added.
The policy includes payment for "absolutely confidential" tips on crimes such as supplying guns and inciting crowds to petition over grievances.
At the bottom of the range, tipsters can get 2,000 yuan (290 US dollars) for reporting "face coverings and robes, youth with long beards, or other popular religious customs that have been radicalized", the newspaper said.
Security forces organize rallies against terrorism in Hotan, Xinjiang, two days after a terror attack that killed five in Pishan on February 14. /Tianshannews Photo
Three knife-wielding attackers killed five people and injured another five before being shot dead in Hotan's Pishan County on February 14.
Pishan has been the site of several bloody terror attacks in recent years. In December 2011, 15 attackers killed one police officer and wounded another as police officers tried to free kidnapped hostages.
In the past week, security forces have organized rallies against terrorism in Xinjiang, beefing up police presence on the streets of the regional capital Urumqi, and in Hotan.
Authorities in Hotan on Tuesday rewarded 36 people with 1.76 million yuan for cracking down on the terror attack in Pishan on February 14./Hotan Daily Photo
On Tuesday, the Pishan government rewarded 36 people, including 13 police officers and 23 local residents, with 1.76 million yuan (256,000 US dollars).
Such practice is common around the world. Other countries, from the US to Turkey, have also offered rewards in the past for information on terror attacks and suspected terrorists.
