XI'AN: A suspect who used a needle-like item to prick people in Chang'an district of this capital city of northwest Shaanxi province was detained on Sunday by police.

The detention came after several needle attacks had been reported to local police since late last month. The needle attacks in Xi'an followed similar attacks in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The suspect, Wang Xing, 26, a male villager in Liucun village of Chang'an district, pricked a female college student's back with a needle-like bamboo stick on Sept 12 in a downtown street of the district, said Liu Liju, a police officer with the publicity section of Chang'an district public security bureau, in an interview with China Daily.