A major police operation is underway in Sydney’s northwest understood to be connected to the body of a young father found partially buried in a paddock.
Dozens of police vehicles swarmed a residential property on Wylds Road – which runs the border of Arcadia and Middle Dural – about 50km northwest of Sydney at 12pm on Friday.
A nearby school was forced into lockdown for more than six hours, leaving multiple classes of students unable to get home.
The reason behind the raid has yet to be officially revealed, with a NSW Police spokesperson declining to comment citing the risk of jeopardizing the ongoing operation.
Officers closed off Old Northern Road between Mid Dural Road and Cattai Ridge Road as well as the intersection of Old Northern Road and Wylds Road as multiple emergency vehicles positioned themselves outside the address.
Tactical officers were seen entering the property via a neighbour’s backyard and an elderly woman was seen being escorted out of the neighbouring property before she was reportedly questioned by officers around 12.30pm.
The episode forced a local school in the area to remain shuttered even after school ended – with worried parents told their children were not allowed to leave.
Roads were reopened and residents were allowed to leave or return to their houses around 5pm.
Dozens of armoured officers swarmed a residential address as part of a major police operation in Dural, 38km northwest of Sydney, from 12pm on Friday
Tactical officers were seen entering a neighbouring property
NSW Police have asked people to avoid the area as traffic has been disrupted.
It added there is no ongoing threat to the public.
The raid has been reportedly linked to the discovery of a deceased man one suburb over in Glenorie on March 15.
Police identified the body of John Birch, 39, who was found dead in a nearby paddock only a few hundred metres from the property currently being surrounded.
Dural residents said they were shocked to see tactical police swarm on their ‘sleepy little town’ on Friday.
‘There has to be at least 20 police in riot gear and masks,’ one person wrote on social media.
‘Was lucky to see a cop car once a month years ago, [let alone] a swat team,’ another added.
more to come
A NSW Police spokesperson declined to comment on the nature of the operation fearing that any information may jeopardize its purpose
Several roads in the area have been closed and a nearby school has been forced into lockdown
