Armed policemen escort the suspects to the temporary outdoor court in Leigu Town, Beichuan County, on Monday afternoon, June 16, 2008. [Photo: Beijing Times]

Eighteen?suspects received severe punishment on Monday afternoon for committing crimes in the quake-hit areas in southwestern China's Sichuan province.

Beijing Times reported 13 of the convicts got penalties for theft, while the others for fraud and injury crime, at a temporary outdoor court staged in Leigu Town, Beichuan County, one of the hardest-hit areas.

The larcenists stole from residences, hotels and enterprises. Some of them even took possessions off the bodies of the perished, igniting colossal social indignation, said the investigation.

The suspects were from Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan, Shandong and Jiangxi provinces, the report said.

(CRI English June 17, 2008)