Police in Southwest China's Sichuan province have detained a monk and his nephew who were found to have incited a series of self-immolations, local police said on Sunday.

Lorang Konchok, a 40-year-old monk at the Kirti Monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, is alleged to have encouraged eight people to set themselves on fire, three of whom died, since 2009, said a police statement.

He acted on the instructions of the Dalai Lama and his followers, according to his own confession and a police investigation.