UP hostage crisis: All children rescued, accused killed

Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, January 31

Twenty-three children, who were taken hostage by a murder convict in his house in a village in Farrukhabad district, were rescued by the UP police after an 8-hour operation on Thursday night in which the captor was killed.

While Uttar Pradesh DGP claimed that the culprit, Subhash Batham, who was out on bail, was killed in a return of fire by the UP police, villagers claimed they were the ones to kill him.

Around 5:30 pm on Thursday, 23 children, the youngest less than a year old, arrived at Batham’s house in Kesariya village, under Mohammadabd police station, to attend his daughter’s birthday party. However, he held them hostage in the basement of his house.

When he refused to release the children, the district administration was alerted. District Magistrate Manvendra Singh and Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar Mishra rushed to the village and tried to negotiate with him through via telephone.

Before that, a member of the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the police, who had tried to establish contact with the accused, was shot at and received several injuries. The Mohammadabad SHO was also injured in the firing.

As the crisis deepened, CM Yogi summoned a meeting of the Crisis Management Group which included the chief secretary, DGP, Additional chief secretary (Home), ADG Law and Order, ADG ATS and Director Vigilance.

Briefing the media outside the CM’s official residence in the wee hours of the morning DGP O P Singh and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi said that in the meeting, a blueprint of the rescue operation was drawn to ensure no harm should come to the children.

DGP Singh said that a request was made to the central government for a team of the National Security Guard (NSG) and another ATS team was rushed from Lucknow. IG Kanpur Range Mohit Agarwal also arrived with his team.

According to the DGP, the strategy was to engage the accused until the crack teams arrived in the village. The murder-convict, his wife, daughter, and the children were present inside his house.

During an exchange with the Farrukhabad DM, the culprit had placed on record several demands, like a house under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana. Strategically all his demands were accepted and biscuits and other refreshments were sent for the hostage children.

According to the DGP, after a point, it was felt that Batham was getting aggressive.

He had firearms and explosives and was threatening to use them that could have endangered the lives of the children.

“At this point, a team led by IG Kanpur range, Farrukhabad DM and SSP decided to attack. A team of the UP police tried to enter the house from the rear on which he fired. There was an exchange of fire in which he was killed and his wife was injured. But all the children have been rescued successfully,” claimed the DGP.

According to ACS Awasthi chief minister Yogi personally monitored the entire operation and has announced an award of Rs 10 lakh to the IG Kanpur-led team that conducted the operation. Each member would also be given a citation of appreciation.

He also thanked the media for restraining themselves from showing the operation live on TV channels.