(Minghui.org) On the afternoon of August 31, 2017, police in Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province arrested many local Falun Gong practitioners hours apart, ransacking their homes and confiscating personal belongings.

It was said that officers from Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, went to Yilan County to monitor and direct this round of arrests. At least 23 practitioners were arrested, with the female practitioners taken to the Harbin City Detention Center and male practitioners taken to the Yilan County Detention Center.

It has been confirmed that the following practitioners were arrested and are still detained: Mr. Li You, Mr. Liu Yumin, Ms. Xia Guihua, Mr. Wang Yunjie, Ms. Wu Yuqin, Ms. Deng Shumei, Ms. Bu Baoling, Ms. Song Konghua, Ms. Kang Yanling, Mr. Chen Jizhong, Mr. Li Chunlin (or Mr. Li Jun), Mr. Tian Hongwei, Mr. Tian Xiaolong, Ms. Zhang Jiuhui, Ms. Shi Rongxian, Ms. Yao Yulian, Mr. Tang Lifei, Mr. Zhou Yan, Ms. Shi Laowu, and Ms. Zhao Guiqin. Three other practitioners – Ms. Yu, Ms. Jiang and a woman referred to as the “fourth sister-in-law” have been released.

Below are two accounts of practitioners’ homes being ransacked.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. on August 31, 2017, about eight plainclothes policemen broke into Mr. Tang Lifei's home. Without showing their police IDs, they attempted to arrest Mr. Tang and his wife. When Mr. Tang refused to submit to the arrest, the policemen beat him. They confiscated the couple's Dafa books and several DVDs.

It was later confirmed that these policemen were from the Investigation Section of the Yilan County Police Bureau.

On the morning of September 4, a policeman went to Mr. Tang's home with a detention warrant. He asked Mr. Tang's mother to sign it and told her that Mr. Tang would return home in 15 days.

Meanwhile, in Huachuan County, Jiamusi City, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Shi Fenglan's home was also ransacked. Ms. Shi heard someone knocking on her door, but she didn't answer it. About ten minutes later, she heard the sound of drilling on her door lock before eight policemen broke into her home.

Two of them were from the Yilan County Police Bureau, one was named Hao Zhengfei, one was from the Heilongjiang Province Police Department, and the others were special forces police from Huachuan County. One policeman asked Ms. Shi if she had joined a party in Yilan County several days before. He collected her Dafa books and a photo of the founder of Falun Dafa and took pictures. They took Ms. Shi away at about 5:30 p.m. and headed to Yilan County.

Many other practitioners were also harassed by police, including Ms. Pang Shuxian, Ms. Guo Chunhui, Ms. Guo Jingfen and Mr. Zhang Guodong.

Sun Yukun, Yilan County Legal and Judicial Committee: +86-13114612345Gao Ge, Yilan County 610 Office Director: +86-13936637700Qu Weizhong, Chief of Yilan County Police BureauSun Wei, Deputy Chief of Yilan County Police Bureau: +86-13796675555Zhang Yingduo, Yilan County Domestic Security Division: +86-13648155977