Rogue ex-policeman Oscar Perez, who called for uprising against Venezuelan ‘tyranny’, is killed in shoot-out

Rogue Venezuelan helicopter pilot Oscar Perez was killed in a police operation on Monday along with six other anti-government militants, the interior minister said on Tuesday, spurring opposition complaints of human rights violations.

Perez, a photogenic former police officer who once starred in an action film, last year used a hijacked helicopter to attack government buildings and stole weapons from a military base in what he called a rebellion against President Nicolas Maduro.

He appeared with a bloody face in nearly a dozen Instagram videos early on Monday, saying he was surrounded by authorities shooting at him with grenade launchers even though he was promising to surrender.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said seven “terrorists” including Perez were killed in the operation outside Caracas along with two police officers involved in the raid.

“In the face of an attack that put the lives of security officials at risk, the attacking group was neutralised using established protocols, with the unfortunate result of seven dead terrorists,” Reverol said in a televised broadcast.

Perez rose to fame in June after allegedly hijacking a police helicopter, flying over Caracas’ centre and firing shots at and lobbing grenades on the Interior Ministry and the Supreme Court.