(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhou Fengqin, in her 60s, who lives in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, recently discovered a surveillance camera was installed on the heating pipe facing her front door. Ms. Zhou later learned the police put the camera there to monitor her.

Ms. Zhou was targeted for practicing her faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Around 10 a.m. on November 22, 2023, local grid manager Lu Jing (+86-16645910790) led around five people and knocked on her door saying they were there to verify her personal information. China’s grid-style social management system involves dividing each county into smaller zones (or grids) and tasking the grid managers with monitoring citizens and reporting suspicious activities to local governments on a regular basis.

Ms. Zhou produced her ID and gave them her cell phone number as requested. Lu then shared her phone number with Ms. Zhou.

Around 2:30 p.m. that day, Ms. Zhou needed to go out. As she opened her door, she suddenly saw a 2’’ cube flashing red light on the heat pipe facing her apartment. Ms. Zhou’s residential community has some heat pipes around the community to provide heat to each unit.

When she took a closer look she realized that the cube was actually a surveillance camera. She wondered who would have done such a thing to infringe upon her privacy? She yanked the camera off the heat pipe and took out the two memory cards in it. The camera was still flashing red. She then tossed it into a trash can as she didn’t want the camera to continue recording her.

Ms. Zhou next asked her neighbors if Lu visited them to verify their personal information. They said no and it dawned on her that the camera must have been installed by Lu and her staff.

About two hours later, Ms. Zhou’s son called her and said the police called him and asked for the surveillance camera. It was apparent that Lu worked with the police and had the camera installed. When the police realized Ms. Zhou removed the camera, they contacted her son and ordered him to have her return the camera.

When he learned what happened earlier in the day, Ms. Zhou’s son was disgusted that Lu and the police would target his mother, an elderly woman who lives alone. He also feared for his mother’s safety. It’s unclear whether they returned the camera as ordered.