QINGDAO - Police in the coastal city of Qingdao on Monday announced the arrests of 16 Falun Gong practitioners who allegedly staged pictures depicting scenes of torture.

Acting on tip-offs, border police raided a residence in Dongnvgu Mountain Village of Qingdao's Chengyang District on May 2, where they found Falun Gong practitioners led by suspect Lu Xueqin acting out torture scenes.

Some suspects were found on the ground with red-colored fluids on their bodies, pretending they had been tortured. Some were acting as the ones carrying out acts of torture, holding batons and sticks in the air, while others pretended to help them by pinning down the "victims." All of them had their pictures taken by their peers, according to police.