Video footage captured the moment a suspected terrorist was arrested and dragged out of a busy gym by police.
Officers stormed The Warehouse Gym, on Platt Lane in Hindley, at approximately 7.30pm on Wednesday evening (May 8). It comes as part of a wider counter terrorism operation which has seen three arrests with cordons still in place across Greater Manchester.
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The footage shows the suspect being detained and handcuffed on the floor of the gym, before he is escorted out and into a police vehicle. Gym-goers look on as armed police and dogs guard the warehouse, which was reportedly placed into lockdown during the incident.
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The gym's owner, Jonny Hart, then described how officers swept the area 'methodically' before explaining to concerned staff and members what had happened.
"They got hold of him very quickly and detained him in plasticuffs, and then escorted him out to the waiting vans," Mr Hart told the Manchester Evening News.
"They made sure that everybody within the gym stayed there so nobody could enter or leave. And then they did, like, a sweep of the gym.
"But all the members of the gym, the staff, were quite commendable, really supporting them and doing what they can and explaining to the officers where he'd been in the gym, whether he'd brought a bag with him and, and so on."
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He added following the arrest, a police officer told the gym manager the individual had been under surveillance during the day, and after realising he was not at his home address, they followed him to the gym.
"I think the main thing is they've detained this guy," Mr Hart said. "Whether he's guilty or not, they have had some intelligence and they've secured him and there's been no injuries, no problems that way.
Police scenes remain in place today in Bolton, Great Lever, Abram and Hindley as police carry out their investigations. Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who holds responsibility for counter terrorism policing in the north west, said: “This evening we have executed a number of planned warrants as part of an ongoing counter terrorism investigation.
“Three men have been taken into custody for questioning and scenes remain in place as we conduct further enquiries. Today’s activity has been the culmination of much detailed planning and we have put measures in place to minimise disruption to local residents as much as possible.
“I understand that any time arrests of this nature are made it will cause concerns and people will naturally have questions. Although we can’t go into specific details of the investigation at this stage, I want to reassure members of the public that we do not currently believe there to be any wider threat linked to today’s activity.
“Further detail will be released where appropriate as the investigation progresses.”