Police have revealed they are looking for three Middle Eastern men a week after a horrific home invasion in rural Victoria where a farmer was viciously assaulted and had his childhood home burned down.
Victoria Police on Monday described the suspects as Middle Eastern in appearance and said they were believed to have spoken Arabic during the attack, which took place in Yea on June 23.
In what may have been a case of mistaken identity, three men, who were armed with guns and a machete, confronted the 68-year-old farmer at his back door at about 1.15am and and forced their way inside his home while demanding cash and a firearm.
Detectives said the man was then blindfolded, beaten, dragged from the house, “frog marched” outside and forced into the boot of his own car, and then taken to a nearby paddock where the men poured petrol onto him.
He was then held at gunpoint by one of the men while the other two set his house on fire, leaving it completely destroyed. The men then fled the scene with three firearms used for farming.
No arrests have been made, the firearms have not been recovered, and police are now appealing for public information, including from an anonymous Crime Stoppers caller who they want to make contact with again.
The farmer suffered major lacerations to the back of his head from being pistol-whipped, cuts to the top of his hands, and a broken finger.
Detective Sergeant Flyn Loughlin, Alexandra Crime Investigation Unit said police needed assistance to identify the offenders, and described the victim as a “tough, country, rural farmer … a salt of the earth type man who has lived in the area for decades”.
“This is an extremely vicious, violent, and cowardly attack on elderly victim who lives alone in a remote area, and we need assistance from the public to help us identify the three offenders,” she said.
“We’re continuing to investigate the circumstances and the possibility that these offenders have incorrectly targeted the wrong house and wrong intended victim – a victim who was unable to meet their specific demands.
“We’re urging an anonymous caller to Crime Stoppers who recently provided us with information regarding the incident to make further contact and provide any additional details.”
Header image: The remains of the farmhouse after the fire (Nine News).
