A senior provincial police official has apologized publicly for detaining a person on charges of defaming the government in his blog, or web log, which criticized a local policy related to illegal acquisition of farmland.

"There was not enough evidence to arrest Wang Shuai on defamation charges," said Qin Yuhai, director of Henan provincial public security bureau, in an online interview to the website, www.people.com.cn, on Thursday. "I would like to apologize to Wang and his family as I am partly responsible for the incident."

The 24-year-old Shanghai resident had on Feb 12 accused the city government of Lingbao, his hometown in Henan province, of illegally acquiring farmland. The Lingbao police traveled to Shanghai and arrested Wang on March 6. He was detained for eight days on charges of defamation, but was later released on bail.