A police operation is underway in Sydney’s north-west which the ABC understands is part of the search for kidnapped grandfather Chris Baghsarian.
The 85-year-old grandfather was kidnapped from his North Ryde home in Sydney’s north-west about 5am on February 13 in a case of mistaken identity.
Officers scour dense bushland at Glenorie. (ABC News)
The operation is understood to be at a property in Glenorie.
The suburb is near Dural, where a crime scene was set up last week at a house detectives believed Mr Baghsarian’s captors had been using as a base.
Vision from the operation shows a large police presence, with officers scouring dense bushland and a vacant block, with officers and police dogs walking along roads.
PolAir is also patrolling the area.
Mr Baghsarian, 85, was taken from his North Ryde home on February 13. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Burnt-out cars could be linked
Earlier, suspicious car fires five days after Mr Baghsarian was take triggered a fresh appeal for information.
Emergency services were called to Good Street at Westmead about 11:30pm on Tuesday, February 17, after reports that two cars were alight.
One of the vehicles was a 2022 model Toyota Corolla, bearing Victorian registration 1UZ2BU, reported stolen from a Victorian address on January 13.
Police are appealing for new information believing suspicious car fires are linked to the kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Police believe the car is linked to the crime scene in Dural.
Images of the burnt-out white vehicle were released by police on Sunday in an appeal for new information.
Anyone who may have seen or heard suspicious activity in the Westmead area, or has CCTV images, since last Friday is urged to contact police.
Since Mr Baghsarian’s disappearance, detectives have made several appeals for his safe release.
Police sources have previously told the ABC the abductors may have been intending to target someone linked to the Alameddine crime family who lived nearby.
Suspicious car fires have been linked to the abduction of the Sydney grandfather. (Supplied: NSW Police)
NSW Police are also investigating a video that has emerged showing the 85-year-old with his hands tied and his face covered.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Baghsarian’s family said they were “struggling” as they awaited “some form of closure or resolution”.
“We are struggling to make sense of the fact that he has been taken and that our family has been caught up in something that has nothing to do with us,” the family said.
