Shenzhen residents are accusing a local real estate company of releasing thousands of scorpions into their homes to clear the way for demolition and redevelopment. From Shanghai Daily:

A man holding a bucket was seen walking out of the office of Shenzhen Luosha Engineering Development Co, a real estate firm that will build a new project at the complex. The man poured something from the bucket into apartment windows, a witness surnamed Li told the website. Li later found the street was crawling with scorpions, the report said.

Police and residents spent the whole night capturing nearly 50 kilograms of scorpions.

All the apartments are scheduled to be demolished but home owners haven’t signed compensation deals yet, the report said.

Residents told the newspaper they suspect the developer freed the scorpions to drive them out as some buildings have already been torn down due to a tight schedule.