Guards gone fear remains in Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng's village Though the cameras and guards that kept blind activist Chen Guangcheng under house arrest have disappeared, the fear of local officials still lingers in his village - even his mother has said he should not come home. In Mr Chen's home village of Dongshigu, amid the wheat fields of eastern China, most people only dared whisper his name yesterday, even though he is now in New York. They don't want to talk about the brutal detention he and his family were subjected to during 19 months of house arrest, much less about the fellow local farmers who meted out the mistreatment. "The government spent lots of money to watch the little blind one," Liu Wencai, an elderly farmer, said. But when asked about the hired enforcers, Mr Liu said: "I cannot answer." The edginess sits in contrast to the lushness of early summer and the relief some villagers feel that the heavy security has been removed - even if the threat remains. Security cameras, watchman's huts and even piles of rubbish created by the surveillance squad were all rapidly cleared away last weekend from Dongshigu, a village of about 500 people which lies 400 miles south-east of Beijing. Mr Chen's relatives were yesterday able to host reporters for the first time in nearly two years. His brother, Chen Guangfu, showed the activist's rural home, and his escape route: he clambered over rugged rock walls up to 13 feet high and tumbled into a neighbour's pigsty, where he lay for an afternoon before moving on under the cover of night. He eventually reached Beijing, where American diplomats finally arranged with the central Chinese government for him to travel to New York for study, with his wife and two children. The only remaining resident at his house in Dongshigu is his mother, Wang Jinxiang, 78, who says she misses him, but would not advise him to come back. "Come back for what?" she said. He just spent all his time at home because they wouldn't let him go out. Chen Guangcheng and wife Yuan Weijing lived in a room where plastic sheets cover cracks in the wall and a pink mosquito net hangs over the bed, next to a three-drawer wooden desk. A couple of months ago, security guards occupied the courtyard outside the house. Blinded by fever in infancy, Mr Chen taught himself law and became known for defending the rights of poor farmers and the disabled in the farming country of Shandong province. He was imprisoned on what supporters say were trumped-up charges. Then, after he was released into house arrest, local officials and the people they hired sometimes beat Mr Chen and his wife, roughed up his mother and harassed their young daughter. Some of the hired thugs came from local communities, getting paid 100 yuan (about £10) a day to chase away unwanted visitors and torment the Chen family. Chen Guangfu said: "They sold out their conscience for money." On the road outside Mr Chen's home, three women taking a rest from field work told reporters they are happier now that the security guards are gone. But they quickly dispersed when four local officials showed up and asked reporters to leave so as not to distract farmers during harvesting season. This village is very peaceful. Nothing happens here," one of the officials said.