Mr Zhang Jiuyuan, a telecom executive in southwest China's Dazhou city, was among a group celebrating the end of Lunar New Year on Thursday by setting off firecrackers in a square where they had been banned, the Beijing News said.

When a police car stopped them, and apparently hauled one of the group in for interrogation, Mr Zhang led an attack on the police station, crashing through the front gate, according to the report.

In the ensuing melee, 12 police officers were injured, including a female official who was beaten unconscious, the paper said.

Mr Zhang and seven others allegedly responsible for the offence were arrested for violently preventing police from executing public duties, it reported.

Mr Zhang, the general manager of Dazhou Telecom Industrial Co. Ltd., was elected one the 'Top Ten Star Philanthropists' in Sichuan province in 2007 for donating money to rural infrastructure and supporting undergraduates. -- AFP