Police investigating the movements of Dezi Freeman when he was a fugitive have arrested two men in Victoria’s north-east.

The men were arrested at separate locations on Tuesday morning and were being interviewed by police.

Police did not confirm why the men had been arrested, but said the duo would be interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation.

“Detectives from Taskforce Summit arrested two people this morning as part of their ongoing investigation into the movements of Desmond Freeman following the fatal shooting of two police officers in Porepunkah last August,” a Victoria Police statement on Tuesday said.

“A 48-year-old man and a 35-year-old man were arrested on 26 May at two separate locations in north-east Victoria.

“The pair will now be interviewed by police.

“The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time.”

The arrests come a day after a directions hearing was held ahead of inquests into the deaths of Freeman and the two officers killed at Porepunkah.

Freeman was wanted over the double murder of Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson at his Porepunkah property, 310 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in August 2025.

The officers were executing a warrant after disclosure of Freeman allegedly sexually assaulting a child, as well as attempting to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.

Seven months later, officers tracked the 56-year-old fugitive to a shipping container in Victoria’s remote north-east.

Counsel assisting the state coroner, Lindsay Spence, on Monday said Freeman was later seen wrapped in a doona or blanket and emerged from the container with a green bag over his hands before dropping it and revealing a firearm.

He shot at police and eight officers returned fire, fatally wounding him, Spence told a pre-inquest directions hearing.

As specialist police did not have body-worn cameras, the inquest into Freeman’s death will rely on officers’ testimony and footage captured from a police helicopter.

Victoria Police trialed body-worn cameras in 2017 and they were were rolled out to all frontline officers from mid-2018.

Camera data analysed from March 2021 by the state’s auditor-general found officers activated their devices in 83.6 per cent of required instances.

In 2025, a NSW police watchdog recommended officers activate body-worn cameras for any incident where they were likely to use their powers. Police in that state are advised – but not required – to record as much of an incident as possible.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan would not say whether the situation was acceptable.

“We need to let that independent [inquest] process do its work and provide further recommendations,” she said.

Freeman activated the voice memos function on his mobile phone, capturing 23 minutes of audio from inside the shipping container.

The shooting deaths of the two officers were captured on body-worn camera footage, Spence confirmed.

State Coroner Liberty Sanger will hold separate inquests looking at the deaths of the two police officers and the final shootout involving Freeman.

There are no set dates for either, although both could take place next year.

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-with AAP