China arrests six over coup rumours "The rumours have "caused a very bad effect on the public," said a spokesman for the State internet Information Office, while the websites were shut down for not acting to stop their spread. Two of China's most popular microblogging sites, weibo.com and qq.com, were also "criticised and punished accordingly" for their failure to prevent the rumours circulating said the spokesman. Mr Bo's spectacular fall from grace at a time when he was being tipped for a place on the all-powerful nine man politburo in the forthcoming October reshuffle of the CCP leadership has created feverish speculation in China. Anonymous sources continue to insist that Mr Bo's removal from his post is connected to the death of the British businessman Neil Heywood, who was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing last November. Those sources claim that the old Harrovian had business dealings with Mr Bo's wife Gu Kailai and that Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing, had told Mr Bo that he believed Mr Heywood's death was suspicious. It was Mr Wang's attempt to seek asylum in the US consulate in Chongqing in February and subsequent arrest that precipitated Mr Bo's downfall. Mr Heywood's family however say that the 41-year-old chain smoker died of natural causes. Suspicions remain too that Mr Bo is the target of a smear campaign from rivals in the CCP unhappy at his high public profile and position as the leader of the party's leftist faction.