Police raid bungle frightens family By JIM KELLY 07jan01

A THORNLIE man had guns thrust at his head and his wife was strip searched in a bungled police raid.

Mickey and Adriana Chopra, who have no criminal convictions, claim they were wrongly targeted.

Police failed to find drugs or guns on the property and have apologised to the young couple.

The Chopras were preparing to go out with their one-year-old son last Saturday about 9am when about 13 organised crime squad officers stormed their home and smashed through the front door.

Mr Chopra said he had a gun held to his cheek and another to the back of his head before he was thrown to the kitchen floor and handcuffed.

His wife, who was holding their frightened son, was later subjected to a strip search.

"They just broke through the front door screaming get down, get down. It was terrifying," Mrs Chopra said.

The Chopras claim police acted on wrong information supplied by a man who had come to their home to look at a stereo system they were selling. Mr Chopra said police told him the man was a drug dealer.

"Our baby is usually at the front door waiting to get out to play at that time of the morning. It's just lucky he wasn't sitting there when the police broke in because he could have been killed," he said. "It's scary to think that anybody off the street can make claims about a person and police respond like this."

A police spokesman said the officers had grounds to carry out the search, which was executed in line with normal procedure.

He said police had apologised to the family and would pay for damage to the property. Australian Nazi Police

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), January 08, 2001