23 children rescued in UP, hostage taker shot dead after 10-hour-long stand-off

Lucknow : A murder accused out on bail has been shot dead by the UP Police after 10-hour-long standoff and negotiations of releasing 23 children hostage in his house at a village in West Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad district. All 23 children have been rescued safely.

The man, identified as Subhash Batham, rejected all negotiation bids offered by the police.

One of the children, a one-year-old infant, was released late on Thursday night, much before the man was killed.

It has been learned that the accused man had invited children to his home on pretext of celebrating his kid's birthday. Once all came inside the house, he pulled out his gun and captured everyone on gunpoint.

The parents of children raised alarm when the kids did not return home and no one answered from the man's house.

Police said that when they rushed a PCR van to his house, Subhash Batham began shooting at it from the terrace. He even threw a crude bomb at them.

Commandos of the Anti-Terrorism Squad and a police team led by the Kanpur Zone Inspector General were subsequently deployed at the spot.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh said that the cops ensured a procedure which maintained safety of hostages as the priority.

"Subhash Batham invited 21 children from the neighbourhood on the pretext of celebrating his daughter's birthday, then held them hostage in the basement. For 8-hours the DM and SSP tried negotiating with the accused using telephones and mobiles," Singh said.

"Our main strategy was to try and fulfill his demands and keeping in mind the well-being of the children we sent him food (biscuits)," he added.

"On learning that he had firing capabilities and after his bomb-threats, all senior police officials decided to attack him. We tried entering the house when Subhash was killed during the encounter," Singh said.