Two men are suspected of molesting a 17-year-old boy

Two men suspected of killing and dismembering teenage boys were being held in criminal custody on suspicion of molesting a 17-year-old boy in Yangquan, in North China's Shanxi province, police said on Wednesday.

Police say a 44-year-old man surnamed Liang and a 28-year-old named Yu are suspected of kidnapping a young waiter at knifepoint in an alley in Yangquan and dragging him into a car in the early morning of March 29.

The boy was taken to a room in a residential building, bound with rope and shoelaces, stripped naked and molested, according to the Yangquan Public Security Bureau.

He escaped when his assailants fell asleep around 4 pm and turned to the police, authorities said.

Police arrested the two suspects, and, according to a report from China News Service, then found reason to suspect the two in four killing and dismemberment cases since August 2008.

A senior Yangquan police bureau officer surnamed Gao told China Daily on Wednesday that the investigation continues into those cases.

"There could be more than four killing and dismemberments involved," he said.

Since news of the arrest was released on Monday, Gao said, families of missing boys have been asking them for information.

According to police, Liang, who lives in the Yangquan suburbs, served four years in prison for child molestation and was released on Aug 18, 2007. Yu is a construction worker in Yangquan.

Yangquan police have been receiving reports of missing boys since August 2008.

Wang Huazhong in Beijing contributed to this story.