Six fishermen were detained and arrested by local police for engaging in illegal fishing activities and poisoning local water plants in Huaining county, central China's Anhui Province, the Xin'an Evening News reported.

Ten fishermen, who are local farmers, put fenpropathrin, a kind of toxic pesticide, into the Wanshui River to harvest fish at midnight of November 2.

The local water source was polluted, which caused a large-scale death of fish and forced the shutdown of two water treatment plants along the river. Thousands of residents were adversely affected.

Huaining police detained six suspects who confessed to the poisoning, while four others are still at large.

The water treatment plants in the county have since returned back in operation.

(CRIENGLISH.com November 9, 2010)