Over 20 children, aged between six months and 15 years, were rescued after an armed man, a murder convict who took them hostage after inviting them for a birthday party at his house in a village at Farrukhabad, was killed on January 30 night, police said.
IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal said the suspect was shot dead in the encounter. “We have found a large cache of guns and gunpowder from him. He was constantly firing at police,” Mr. Agarwal said. The wife of the suspect also died after she was allegedly lynched by a mob of angry villagers when she attempted to flee the spot.
However, the exact cause of death was not clear, said police. Mr. Agarwal said when the woman was sent to hospital, she was injured, bleeding from her head. The reason of death will be known in the post-mortem report, he said. “When her husband was firing at the police, the woman tried to flee from there...the villagers were angry and attacked her with bricks and stones,” said the officer.
The operation, starting from the negotiations, lasted eight hours. Two policemen were injured in the incident, said DGP O.P Singh.
The hostage drama began at Kasaria village in the afternoon on Thursday. Hours later, the accused released a six-month-old girl by handing her over to his neighbour from a balcony, they said.
The DGP said the suspect Subash Batham was engaged in talks by the police and administration “constructively” but he threatened to “blow up” the place many times. “When we felt he was getting aggressive, the police team decided to attack. As the U.P. police team tried to enter the house, he fired on them and in the exchange of fire Subash Batham was killed,” said Mr. Singh. Batham’s wife was injured in the incident, Mr. Singh added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an award of ₹10 lakh for the police team that carried out the rescue operation. “All personnel who took part in the operation will be given a certificate of appreciation,” said Additional Chief Secretary Awanish K Awasthi. The DGP said Batham was a convicted criminal in a murder case and probably out on parole but other officers said he was out on bail.
