Beijing: Forty-two doomsday preachers were held in China for warning people that the world will end on Friday, the day of the "apocalypse", taking the total number of such arrests to over 1,000.
Police in the city of Yichang in central China`s Hubei province said today that they have detained 42 members of the "Almighty God" religious group.
Over 1,000 people were held all over China during the past few weeks for creating panic among public going round with announcements over loud speakers that that world would end today.
Group members from seven districts and counties in Yichang were apprehended for spreading rumours about an impending doomsday, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
They were detained for disturbing social order, according to the city`s public security bureau.
The group, established in 1990 in central China`s Henan province, promises salvation to those who join the group before the "apocalypse" occurs.
PTI
