Three judges at a central China court have been put on leave over a wrong conviction that left an innocent man behind the bars for 11 years, authorities said Friday.

The three judges, including chief justice Zhang Yunsui, and judges Hu Xuanmin and Wei Xinsheng, were suspended from their duties at the Intermediate People's Court in Shangqiu City of Henan Province after Zhao Zuohai, the alleged murderer, was acquitted on May 9, said Du Jianhua, the court's vice president.

They were put under investigation by a joint panel from the provincial higher court, the intermediate court and the anti-graft authorities in Shangqiu, said Du.

Zhao Zuohai, 57, had spent 11 years in jail when the man he allegedly murdered turned up alive on April 30.

After his acquittal Zhao told reporters he had been forced to confess to murder, as he was beaten up during interrogations and tortured in order to stay awake for more than 30 days.

He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by Shangqiu intermediate court. The sentence was later commuted to a 29-year imprisonment.

Local police, court and prosecuting authorities are investigating the case and have promised to penalize those responsible for the wrong conviction.

Two police officers have been detained on suspicion of torturing Zhao to extract confession and a third one is still at large.

When Zhao was in jail, his wife remarried, two of his four children were adopted while the other two left home to become migrant workers.

Zhao got 650,000 yuan (96,000 U.S. dollars) of compensation and an official apology