(Minghui.org) While on a train from Handan City, Hebei Province to Urumqi City, Xinjiang Province on April 16, 2020, Mr. Liu Pingxian was arrested after being reported for talking to other passengers about Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

On April 21, the Urumqi police escorted Mr. Liu back to Handan, a city nearly 2,000 miles away. Together with officers from the Yongnian District in Handan, the Urumqi police ransacked Mr. Liu’s home in Caozhuang Village. Mr. Liu has been released at the time of writing. 

On the same day, the Urumqi and Handan police also harassed four other practitioners in Caozhuang Village, including Ms. Su Yun, Ms. Hou Xiuyun, Ms. Li Feng, and Mr. Liu Shengzhong, as well as another practitioner, Ms. Jia Xiangting, in Qilidian Village. 

The police confiscated Ms. Hou’s Falun Gong books and other related materials. She was terrified and vomited. She has been living away from home ever since to avoid further harassment.

When the police went to Ms. Su’s home, no one was around. The police returned the next day and confiscated her reading machine. They harassed her again on April 24 and attempted to pressure her to give up practicing Falun Gong.

The police also ransacked Ms. Jia’s home and confiscated many of her personal belongings related to Falun Gong. She was brought to the police station and interrogated. She was released that evening.

Two Urumqi police officers and a Handan officer brought Ms. Jia back to the police station for interrogation on May 13. It’s not clear whether the Urumqi police stayed in Handan during the period or they returned to Xinjiang and came back. It also remains to be discovered why the Urumqi police were involved in persecuting the five other practitioners besides Mr. Liu.