Beijing, Dec 22 (IANS): As many as 96 people were arrested in central China Saturday after police targetted the cult that spreads doomsday rumours in the country.
The suspected "Almighty God" cult members were arrested in Henan province where the sect was founded in 1990, Xinhua reported.
The cult, promising salvation for followers before an impending apocalypse, extorted money from believers and warned of lightening strike for those who do not obey, police said.
But crime experts said the cult would not disappear even after the so-called apocalypse, or destruction of the world which was feared to occur Dec 21.
Their guiding principle is to battle the "Great Red Dragon", a euphemism for the Communist Party of China, and set up a country run by the "Almighty God", say experts.