Heavily armed tactical police arrest men on way to Bondi

• Follow our live coverage of the Bondi shooting here.

A carload of men from Victoria has been stopped by heavily armed tactical police in Sydney’s south-west while travelling to Bondi Beach, responding to reports that a violent attack was in the works.

The men were driving a white hatchback with Victorian plates through Liverpool when they were rammed by the tactical operations unit. Police confirmed on Friday that no weapons were found.

Unit members in camouflage and with heavy weapons drawn pulled five men onto the footpath and handcuffed them with zip ties. Some of the men appeared to be injured and bleeding.

The motive of the men was also unclear. The group was flagged because they were known to authorities in Victoria, sources said.

A second hatchback, also with Victorian number plates, was intercepted a few streets away and two men were arrested.

NSW Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said on Friday morning that there were no weapons found in the vehicles, as the group of seven men remain in custody under a Commonwealth detention warrant.

Hudson held “significant concern” about the prospect of another public attack, and said the extraordinary tactics to detain the men were “the most appropriate for the circumstances”.

“I think we will see as the day plays out, a clearer picture of what was potentially going to occur yesterday,” Hudson told 2GB.

“I can confirm no firearms or weapons were located at a vehicle stop, so I think that supports the decision to go early before any potential weapons could be obtained by this crew.”

No definitive link between Bondi terrorists Sajid and Naveed Akram and the group of men arrested on Thursday has been established.

NSW Police said in a statement shortly after 8.15pm on Thursday that the operation had concluded and there was no ongoing risk to the community.

“Police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” the statement said.

The operation was in response to “information received that a violent act was possibly being planned”.

In footage posted on social media, five men could be seen lying on the road and footpath at the intersection of George Street and Campbell Street on Thursday afternoon.

The vision shows one man whose head appears to be bleeding. In later footage, he appears to have been bandaged.

The crashed Hyundai hatchback has Victorian number plates, and appeared to have a hole in its windscreen.

Nine News reported beanbag rounds were believed to have been used.

Other footage from the scene shows mobile phones sitting atop evidence envelopes and the men lined up against a fence nearby before being moved across the road into the shade.

Another video posted online by SCN Worldstar shows similarly outfitted officers pulling two other men from a Toyota hatchback on Laurantus Serviceway.

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