Residents in the former freezing works townshipsouth of Clive had earlier been asked to stay inside while police searched for a wanted person.
There was a visible police presence in the area and cordons were in place, including on part of State Highway 51, and with a request from police for residents to avoid the area, and stay inside if within the zone.
A Whakatu resident who did not want to be named and lives on Buckingham St said he had the day off and was in the backyard before police told him to go inside.
“Police were in our backyard and front as well on the streets,” he said. ”
The resident said there were police around Buckingham St, Station Rd, and Railway Rd.
An employee of nearby business David Trubridge Ltd told Hawke’s Bay Today he could see “a bunch” of armed cops and about seven police vehicles surrounding a residential property.
”They removed a couple of kids from the property, they came down the driveway and were taken away in a police car,” the employee said.
He had not heard any specific noises from the scene, besides police sirens.
Police said the operation did not have any links to the search for another man, aged in the mid-20s, considered dangerous and wanted since the issuing of a warrant to arrest in Hastings in mid-May.
