(Clearwisdom.net) At about 3 p.m. on July 19, 2010, as usual, a Falun Gong study group of 12 elderly people living in the neighborhood of Nanjie Street, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province were studying the Falun Gong teachings together. When they were reading the Falun Gong books, some officers from the State Security Bureau and the Nanta Police Station of Chenzhou City broke in and arrested all of them on the spot. They were then sent to the Nanta Police Station.

As of July 25, six of the practitioners were still in custody. Ms. Xiang Huaixiang was held in the Chenzhou City Detention Center, while another five, including Ms. Li Manmei, Ms. Meng Qinglian and Ms. Li Liumei, were held in the Chenzhou City Custody Center.

A playback of the story

The practitioners met to read Falun Gong books for two hours every week. The oldest was 85 years old, while the youngest was more than 60 years old. Through practicing Falun Gong they enjoyed good health, happiness and peace of mind. Even the illiterate ones learned to read and could read the whole book of Zhuan Falun smoothly with the help of other practitioners.

On Monday July 19, the 12 practitioners went to the home of practitioner Jiang to study Falun Gong teachings as usual, when police broke in and arrested all of them. The police were headed by Liu Hongbing, from the State Security Bureau of Beihui District, Chenzhou City and Liao Binggang, from the State Security Bureau of Suxian District. The commander of the whole event and the individual who reported the practitioners to police are to be investigated.

In the meantime, a group of police broke into Ms. Xiang Huaixiang's home at No. 91, Zhongshanbei Street, Chenzhou City and ransacked it right after she left for the group study. They stole her computer, printer, a DVD writer and other personal property. The police car was fully loaded with these items. They also stole about 10,000 yuan in cash from her.

That night, some practitioners were released after their statements were recorded. An 85-year-old practitioner refused to sign the police record. She said solemnly: "I know how to write, but I will not sign it because I have done nothing wrong. I am innocent. Now I am hungry. I must go home for dinner." Then she made her way past the police and returned to her home.

Family members forced to fight back

After Ms. Meng Qinglian was arrested, the police moved on to her daughter-in-law's home and ransacked her house. At her home they ordered her to open the door. Ms. Meng's 5-year-old granddaughter Jiajia was so frightened that she cried. The little girl had witnessed the violence of the CCP police many times before. They were such painful experiences for her that she would tremble with fear whenever she saw a police car and would say, "The bad ones are coming" whenever she saw any person in a police uniform. Her grandfather Mr. Liao Songlin and her father Liao Zhijun had been arrested many times. It is rare for the family to reunite, but to make things worse, her grandmother was arrested and her home was ransacked.

In her desperation, Jiajia's mother (not a practitioner) seized a knife, opened the window and yelled to the police: "You have done such great harm to my daughter! You have done such great harm to my family! You do this again and again. Will there ever be an end to this? You have pushed us into a desperate situation. Any one of you dare to come in? I will fight with you!" Seeing this, the police simply left in their car.

Ms. Xiang Huaixiang, in her 60s, was a retired employee from the Documentary Section of the Construction Bank of Chenzhou City. For practicing Falun Gong she had been evicted from her job twice, arrested twice and forced to pay the police 12,000 yuan as a fine. Her only daughter Ms. Chen Lijuan, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was persecuted when she was studying in the Financial Faculty of the Financial College of Hunan Province. Because she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, she was evicted from her school and was fined. As a result of the persecution she suffered from a mental disorder. During July 2000 and May 2003, she was sent to mental hospitals three times but was paralyzed by the treatments in the hospitals. She died in grief on November 11, 2004.

People involved in the arrests:
Liu Hongbing, officer from the State Security Bureau of Beihu District, Chenzhou City: 86-15873506127 (Cell)
Liao Binggang, officer from the State Security Bureau of Suxian District, Chenzhou City: 86-13875510903 (Cell)
Cao Zeshi, the one who reported the practitioners to police: 86-735-2232629, 86-13347252240 (Cell)