People who witnessed a brawl along Rewa St, Suva, on Tuesday night, described the scene as “horrifying”.
They also claimed police numbers had to be beefed up after the first officers at the scene were outnumbered.
An eye witness who spoke under the condition of anonymity claimed the incident happened just after 6pm.
When a team from this newspaper arrived at the scene about an hour later, police had managed to contain the fight with more than 50 officers and about 10 police vehicles at the scene.
Chief operations officer Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdul Khan was at the scene overseeing the arrest of the men involved.
“At first, around four to five police officers tried to stop the fight, and they were outnumbered,” the eyewitness said.
“Then, a large group of officers with a fleet of vehicles came to assist stop the fight.
“It was horrifying to see them throwing bottles, iron rods,m and sticks at each other.”
Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho said an incident management team set up on Tuesday had received information of an alleged plan to attack the occupants of the house of interest.
He said more than 50 officers were mobilised and deployed to the scene and managed to contain the incident and the youths were dispersed.
“For their own safety, the occupants of the home have been asked to relocate,” he said.
The Police Commissioner has also ordered a probe into the owner of the property and any unexplained wealth of its occupants.
(Additonal reporting by Arieta Vakasukawaqa)
