The hostage crisis in Farrukhabad ended shortly after midnight on Friday after the 23 children who were held captive for about eight hours were rescued by the police and the captor was shot dead, while his wife was lynched by angry locals.
The hostage drama began at Kasaria village on Thursday evening when Subhash Batham, who is a murder accused, invited the children, aged between six months and 15 years, to his daughter's birthday party.
"The accused had invited the children for the birthday party of his daughter and held them hostage. It started about 5.45 pm on January 30 and continued for about eight hours," Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh said, adding that in the entire operation they had tried to "engage" the accused and were successful.
He said the accused had initially released a six-month-old girl by handing her over to his neighbour from a balcony.
Police said Batham, who seemed mentally unstable, handed over the girl to his neighbour from a balcony.
The accused fired from inside the house on those who tried to speak to him, the police said, adding that a man and two policemen suffered a bullet injury.
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The motive of the accused was not known immediately.
"The accused was killed and there were about 23 children who were rescued safely," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference at 1.20 am.
His wife died in a hospital on Thursday night. She had tried to escape from the spot when Batham opened fire, but was caught by angry locals who thrashed her and pelted stones at her, IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal.
She sustained a head injury in the attack, but the exact cause of death would be known after post-mortem, he said.
"The man held the children hostage in the basement of the house and he fired six shots from inside the building," the IG said.
He said Batham fired on those who attempted to speak to him. Batham wanted to talk to the local MLA, but he refused to speak to the leader when he arrived, Agarwal said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath monitored the situation in Farrukhabad, which is nearly 200 km from state capital Lucknow.
"The CM as soon as he got to know about the incident called a meeting of crisis management group and personally monitored the situation and ensured children are rescued safely," Awasthi said.
"It is laudable that all the children who were held hostage in Farrukhabad were freed through the efficient strategy and planning of police," Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, congratulating the chief minister and UP police.
Earlier, a team of NSG (National Security Guard) commandos had taken a special aircraft to reach Farrukhabad, a senior security official in Delhi said.
Meanwhile, Adityanath announced an award of Rs 10 lakh for the UP Police team that successfully carried out the rescue operation.
"All personnel who took part in the operation will be given a certificate of appreciation," said UP Additional Chief Secretary Awanish K Awasthi.
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