Police Commissioner, Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho has refuted claims against poor police response times in relation to street violence that happened in Raiwai, Suva on Sunday morning.

His comments come after two newspapers criticised the response by the Force quoting some residents from the area.

Brigadier General Qiliho states the Raiwaqa Police received a call for assistance at around 7.30am and officers attending to a report of a drunk and disorderly case at Jittu Estate were called back.

He adds along the way they picked up officers from the Grantham Community Post and attended to the scene.

Qiliho adds a task force team from Nabua and Valelevu were also called in to reinforce efforts which focused on more than just the arrest and detention of the suspects.

He adds upon arriving at the scene, uniformed officers attended to one of the suspects who had sustained serious injuries, and transported him to the CWM Hospital where he is still admitted.

The Commissioner says as soon as they arrived in Raiwai, their immediate action was to disperse bystanders and ensure that no one else was injured.

He adds while several officers from the Raiwaqa Police Barracks were trying to quell the situation, another team was pursuing the suspects who fled in another vehicle which was later found abandoned near Mead Road.

This is where two suspects were arrested.

Qiliho adds the remaining six are known to Police, and anyone who interferes or tries to prevent the arresting officers from doing their work will also be arrested.

According to the Commissioner, there were nine youth from Mead Road who came to Raiwai with the intention of instigating violence against another group of youth.

Brigadier General Qiliho says such actions by people who think it is acceptable to resort to violence to settle their grievances will not be condoned, and all those involved will be brought to justice.