BEIJING, April 17 -- Police in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have detained a man for spreading rumors that a motorcyclist was shot dead by police for running a red light, a local news website said Thursday.

The man, a resident of the region's capital Urumqi, received civil detention of 15 days on Wednesday after he forwarded an untrue rumor that was created abroad, said Tianshan.com, quoting public security bureaus of Urumqi and Aksu Prefecture.

At 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, a young man named Abdubasit Ablimit from Yurqi Township, Kalpin County of Aksu, rode a motorcycle and attacked a check point twice, attempting to assault police at the check point and grab their arms. Despite firing a warning shot, police failed to stop him and had to shoot him. The motorcyclist was then rushed to the hospital and died despite medical efforts the next morning, the website said.

Following the attack, rumormongers at home and abroad viciously distorted the facts, using the case to confuse the public, which led to the detention of the Urumqi resident, police were quoted as saying, without disclosing his name.