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Police said on Tuesday that two people who allegedly poisoned milk and caused the deaths of three babies in a Northwest China city did so because they were angry with the farmer who produced it.

Investigations into the tragedy show that nitrite, an industrial salt that can be poisonous, was intentionally added to milk produced at Ma Wenxuan's dairy farm in Mafang village, Pingliang city, Gansu province.

Police said a man surnamed Wu and his wife who is surnamed Ma are suspected of adding the chemical to the milk because they were upset with Ma Wenxuan over unresolved business disputes.

The couple and Ma Wenxuan both rent the same piece of land and keep dairy cows on it, said the local public security bureau.

Wu allegedly bought nitrite sometime around April 1 and, on April 5, Wu's wife is believed to have added some of the chemical to Ma's milk. On that occasion, people who drank the poisoned milk displayed only mild symptoms of poisoning.

On April 6, Wu's wife is alleged to have again poisoned the milk - but with a larger dose of nitrite.

Thirty-nine people in Pingliang were treated at a hospital after drinking the nitrite-tainted milk and three children under 2 died. The youngest was only 36 days old.

The police said the couple has been detained for questioning.

The poisoned milk was sold by dairy farmers directly to consumers without any inspection to ensure its safety.

Ma Shuqin, the mother of an 80-day-old baby who survived the poisoning, said she knew there had been no safety checks on the locally produced milk but felt that she had no other option.

In 2008, melamine-tainted milk powder killed at least six infants and sickened 300,000 across the country, which deeply eroded consumers' faith in the integrity of China's dairy industry. The chemical was added to make diluted milk appear protein rich.

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（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.