Anti-terror raids in Ascot Vale, Melbourne

POLICE have arrested one man and found an imitation shotgun during anti-terror raids in Melbourne early this morning.

A MAN has been arrested and an imitation shotgun found during anti-terror raids in Melbourne early today.

A 32-year-old man was taken into custody and two other men, aged 31 and 51 were questioned by state and federal officers.

The counter-terror operation was linked to the attack on Monday in the beachside suburb of Brighton where Islamic State-inspired gunman Yacqub Khayre, 29, was gunned down by police after he shot dead a man in the foyer of a serviced apartments in Brighton after taking a sex worker as a hostage.

Three police officers were injured in the shootout with Khayre.

Police told reporters at a media conference there was no suggestion of anyone they’d spoken to who was directly linked to Khayre.

“I want to make perfectly clear, we haven’t yet uncovered anybody with links to terrorism who are associated with the offender from the Brighton attack,” Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said.

Australian Federal Police remove a laptop in an evidence bag from an address at Ascot Vale, Melbourne, Friday, May 9, 2017. Picture: Mal Fairclough/AAP

“They are not persons of national security interest. They are, however, persons who are known to us through their criminal history,” Mr Patton said.

It was revealed on Friday that Khayre had two shotguns during the siege, including the sawn-off shotgun used to fire at police.

During the riads this morning, homes in Glenroy, Ascot Vale and Gladstone Park were searched, with a fake shotgun found in the Gladstone Park property.

Entry was forced at the Ascot Vale flat, which had no one inside, and police are currently searching it for evidence.

Neighbour Thomas McNair said the flat was home to a caucasian man and woman, aged in their 30s, who were “really quiet people”.

“Heard coppers say: ‘It’s the police, we are coming in’,” he told AAP on Friday.

“(Then) they rammed in.” Police are speaking to a father and son in relation to the Gladstone Park raid, where the imitation shotgun was found.

AFP officers search an apartment and these two cars in Churchill Avenue, Ascot Vale. Picture: Nicole Garmston

At the raid in Glenroy, five people were in the house and police took a 32-year-old man into custody, where he is currently being interviewed by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

He suffered a graze to his face during the arrest, police said. Officers have spent the morning bagging items from the Ascot Vale flat, including a black laptop, while police tape surrounds two cars outside, both without numberplates.

The raids relate to “aiding and abetting commission of engagement into terrorist acts”, Mr Patton said.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told Sky News this morning a number of warrants were being executed and they were in relation to the “terrible, tragic events at Brighton on Monday”.

“Terror is not half a world away, there are very real threats in communities right across our nation,” he said, ahead of a COAG meeting with the Prime Minister and other state and territory leaders in Hobart.