A man accused of murder, who held over 20 children hostage after inviting them for his daughter’s birthday party at his house in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad, was killed on Thursday, 30 January night, police said.
All the children have been safely evacuated, the police added.
On Friday, his wife succumbed to her injuries after being beaten up by locals. She was admitted to a hospital in critical condition, reported ANI.
As many as 20 children and a few women were held hostage by murder accused Subhash Batham, who reportedly opened fire and threw a hand grenade at the police earlier.
Batham’s wife and his daughter were also in the house.
Three police personnel and a villager were injured in the incident. Earlier, a team of NSG (National Security Guard) commandos had taken a special aircraft to reach Farukhabad, a senior security official in Delhi said.
Meanwhile, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has announced an award of Rs 10 lakh for the UP police and its team for successfully carrying out the operation. All personnel who took part in operation will be given certificate of appreciation as well.
‘He Seemed to Be Mentally Unstable’
The hostage drama began at Kasaria village in the afternoon. Hours later, the accused released a six-month-old girl by handing her over to his neighbour from a balcony, PTI quoted police officials as saying.
Accused Subhash Batham fired from inside the house on those who tried to speak to him, police said, adding that a man suffered a bullet injury.
Police said Batham, a murder accused, seemed to be mentally unstable, according to PTI.
The accused had sent out a complaint addressed to the district magistrate, alleging he was denied housing and toilets as per government schemes, according to reports.
Batham also wanted to talk to the local MLA, but he refused to speak to the leader when he arrived, police said.
Earlier, Adityanath had called a high-level meeting over the incident with the chief secretary, principal secretary (Home), DGP and ADGP (Law and Order).
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and The Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)