(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, information was obtained about the severe persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners by the "610 Officer" and police in Taihe County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province. Practitioners were illegally arrested and tortured at the detention center. The torture methods included being subjected to freezing temperatures for extended periods of time, being handcuffed and shackled, and being repeatedly poked with needles. Some practitioners were tortured by police twisting their arms and some were forced to jump down flights of stairs while shackled. Many of these practitioners were sentenced to forced labor. Eight practitioners were arrested. Some have been detained for almost a year.

For years now, agents in Taihe County have followed the Jiang regime's brutal policy to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. During this time, more than ten people were sentenced to forced labor, more than 100 people were arrested and detained, and more than a thousand people were taken to a brainwashing center.

Since May 2007, the Taihe County 610 Officer and police from the Miaoji and Santa Stations arrested approximately 20 Falun Gong practitioners who attended an experience sharing gathering. Later, 26 practitioners faced extortion and arrest, including Ms. Dong Fang, Ms. Li Aiyun, Mr. Tian Xianlong, Ms. Han Fang and her daughter Tian Jingjing, Ms. Li Cuirong, Ms. Jiang Hui and her daughter, Mr. Chen Xiaodong, Ms. Yang Xiuli and Ms. Sun Yufeng.

On February 21, 2008, Ms. Liu Liying was arrested. Many policemen then proceeded to ransack her home. After Ms. Liu was arrested, she was detained at the Taihe County Detention Center; and still, the authorities have not produced any evidence or warrants to justify her arrest. Because of the persecution, many Falun Gong practitioners have been forced to leave their homes to avoid being arrested.

During this same period of time, agents from the Taihe County 610 Office and police freely ransacked practitioners' homes. They consider ransacking, robbery, and arrest as additional sources of income. Some practitioners were not released until their families paid bribes of thousands of yuan. Agents and police confiscated expensive electronics, computers, printers and cash from practitioners' homes. Even the homes of practitioners in hiding were not spared. In order to profit further, some policemen camped out in the home of the relatives of a Falun Gong practitioner who had left her home. These police threatened the relatives; and subsequently, the relatives spent over a thousand yuan to feed those policemen. The policemen even told the relative, if the practitioner is arrested, she would be sentenced to five years in prison. They also said that if the practitioner's father was arrested, he would be sentenced to three years in prison.