A man accused of taking part in a riot in September over land claims died in police custody on Sunday, local government said yesterday.

The dead man was alleged to have participated in a riot in Guangdong Province, after riot police moved to quell a long-standing dispute in Wukan Village, where development has consumed swathes of rice paddies.

The government of Shanwei, which includes Wukan Village in its jurisdiction, announced yesterday that Xue Jinbo fell ill on Sunday, his third day in detention over the riot.

Hospital doctors pronounced him dead, despite their efforts to save his life.

Local officials immediately notified Xue's family and offered aid, said the announcement on the Shanwei government website.

"The cause of death was cardiac failure, and other causes of death have been provisionally ruled out," said the government notice, citing hospital doctors.

Land grab disputes have become an explosive social issue in many parts of rural China, with incidents spreading to the undeveloped west of the country, according to a recent poll published in Outlook Weekly, a magazine run by Xinhua news agency.