THE most wanted criminal in Rio de Janeiro has called for a ceasefire between gangs to stop innocent members of the public being shot.

A 12-minute recording leaked to the press appeared to feature Celso Pinheiro Pimenta, known as Playboy, calling for an end to shoot-outs. Pimenta is suspected of leading the Amigos dos Amigos faction, one of the three biggest criminal organisations in the Brazilian city. In the clip, published by the newspaper

O Dia, a voice believed to be Pimenta, says: “I’m not asking for a truce from anybody. You’re from one faction, I’m from another. It’s a blood war. But I’m here to no longer draw the media’s attention, for residents to be at ease, for children to be able to play. We want to put up a trampoline for our kids to play on and we can’t.”

Pimenta was believed to be referring to an incident in which 50 heavily armed members of the Comando Vermelho gang hijacked a lorry and entered his ter- ritory. The ensuing gunfight left at least three dead and three injured.

In response to the recording, Fu da Mineira, a Comando Vermelho leader, said: “The chat about calling an end to the shots has been going on for ages but it’s not going to happen because they want to unload a gun in our faces.”

The police drugs unit is analysing the recording. The appeal was made as a state deputy in central Brazil proposed members of the public be given a financial “gun allowance” to defend themselves in the face of worsening security.

Major Junio Alves Araújo, who sits in the government in the state of Goiás, recommended a state handout of £200 for the population to buy their own weap- ons. “This proposal is aimed at the family man who cannot afford to buy a firearm to ensure his and his relatives’ safety,” he said.

“It is important that men at least have the chance and dignity to defend their loved ones.”

The draft bill was introduced last week and will be read before being voted on.