Man injured during altercation over demolition

A farmer who refused to allow workers to demolish the remnants of his home for a construction project was injured during a dispute in Sichuan province.

According to the Suining city government information office in Sichuan, Li Zhibin, 41, sells lamps and hardware in the Pengxi county town.

In late November, Pengxi officials decided to demolish houses to make way for the construction of the Suining-Guang'an Expressway.

The remnants of Li's house were 12.4 meters long and 7.4 meters wide. According to government policy, Li could have received between 40 and 60 yuan ($6.60 and $9.80) for every square meter of the home.

"In other words, he would receive a compensation of 5,506 yuan. But Li Zhibin asked for a compensation of 150,000 yuan," said Wang Song, an information officer in Suining.

Li also turned down an offer of 18,352 yuan.

Li was seriously injured on Friday morning in an altercation with construction workers.

"The department in charge of expressway construction has paid 50,000 yuan for Li Zhibin who is in a hospital and in stable conditions. Police are investigating the case," Wang said.

Netizens claimed Li had been injured by hooligans hired by the Pengnan town government. But the Pengxi county government refuted the allegation.