Police on Tuesday morning raided the headquarters of Shenzhen QVOD Technology Co, a leading developer and service provider of streaming media and entertainment content, in an investigation of whether the company was disseminating obscene content.

"We got tips that the company is suspected of being involved in disseminating obscene content," said the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau in a statement on Tuesday. The statement said the raid was part of a push to clean up obscene and erotic online content.

The action by the city police is part of a national campaign sponsored by a number of administrations, including the State Internet Information Office, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Public Security, from April 13 to November.

Responding to online rumors that the police had put the employees of the company under their control and sealed up all the computers since midday, QVOD Technology said in its official blog that the company was running normally.

"The online news has exaggerated the situation. Several policemen did visit the company but left already. The company now is under normal operation," said the blog at around 2:30 pm on Tuesday.

Company CEO Wang Xin, who was on a business trip abroad, sent an email to all the employees concerning the police raid. He said there was no reason to worry and that the company lawyer was coming to resolve the situation, according to a report by the technology portal Tencent.

However, yicai.com reported that the police continued to question employees at around 4 pm and that all employees were asked not to leave the office.

Tencent cited an investor of QVOD who said the company might have been reported by a competitor and that the police were possibly conducting a routine investigation.

The company ended the operation on April 16 of a QVOD server, which enabled video on demand and downloads and attracted about 200 million users a week, in a bid to thoroughly remove pirated and obscene content.