A man who disclosed illegal activities in the dairy industry died on Nov 14 after being attacked by unidentified suspects earlier this month, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Thursday.

Jiang Weisuo, 44, general manager of a dairy company in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, was attacked on Nov 2 after he attended a meeting at his company.

Police have detained a suspect, but the motive of the attack remains unclear, the report said.

Jiang reported local dairy companies' illegal activities, including adding water to milk, to the local government in 2006. After that, many dairy companies were shut down, the report said.

He became famous in 2008 after melamine-tainted milk powder killed at least six babies and left more than 290,000 others with kidney damage.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn