Two men were yesterday sentenced to death for their part in a bomb attack on a local government office in southwest China’s Yunnan Province in May 2012 that killed four people and injured 16, a court said.

The pair, Deng Deyong and Song Chaoyu, also were ordered to pay 980,000 yuan (US$161,852) in compensation to the victims’ families, the Zhaotong Intermediate People’s Court said.

The bomb was taken into the Qiaojia County government’s demolition office in Zhaotong City on May 10, 2012, in a bag carried by 26-year-old Zhao Dengyong. Zhao, a resident of Qiaojia, had been paid 100 yuan by Deng and Song to deliver the deadly package, but was unaware of its contents.

Once Zhao was inside the office, Deng detonated the device remotely. The blast killed Zhao, two members of the public and a member of staff. Sixteen others were injured.

The court said Deng staged the attack as a way to get revenge on the demolition office. He had earlier been told his home was slated for demolition but had been refused permission to build a new one as the original property did not have a valid building permit.

The court also sentenced a third man, Chen Hezhi, to eight years in prison for illegally selling explosives. Chen sold 41 detonators to Song in March 2006, which Deng used to make the Qiaojia bomb, the court said.

All three men said they will appeal their sentences to a higher court.

The case had earlier sparked controversy after Yunnan police insisted Zhao was to blame for the explosion. Yang Chaobang, Qiaojia County police chief, told a press conference after the attack that he would “bet his job” on Zhao being a suicide bomber. He claimed the dead man’s diaries and online chat logs were evidence of his “hatred for society.”

However, the Zhaotong Public Security Bureau on August 7, 2012, said Zhao had been ruled out as a suspect, adding that Yang’s remarks had misled the public and hurt the feelings of Zhao’s family.

Lan He, a lawyer acting for the family, earlier told the Xinhua news agency that it was seeking an apology and 2 million yuan in compensation from the Qiaojia public security office. The family rejected an initial compensation offer of 60,000 yuan and decided to take legal action.