‘Police may have murdered 30’

Police officers may have committed up to 30 murders during the recently-ended police strike in Brazil’s north-eastern state of Bahia.

An official with the police department’s homicide department yesterday said that 30 of the 180 people murdered during the 12-day strike that ended on Saturday were killed execution-style. He said many of the victims were found with their hands handcuffed or tied behind their backs.

Preliminary investigations and eyewitness reports “lead us to believe that these killings were the work of militias” made up of former or active-duty officers that extort residents and double as extermination squads.