UP Man Holds 20 Children and Women Hostage in His Farrukhabad House, Rescue Operations Underway

[Spartan]

At least 20 children are being hostage by a man with a criminal background in in Mohamadabad area of Farukkhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Several women are also reportedly present inside the house.

The incident took place on Thursday evening when Subhash Batham, who is an accused in a criminal case, invited about 20 local children to his house for a party and then locked them inside.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is monitoring the situation in Farrukhabad's Kasaria village, which is nearly 200 km from state capital Lucknow.

When some local residents tried to break down the door, Batham started firing from the inside, injuring at least one person. He even hurled a low-intensity bomb from the window, allegedly shouting that he had been wrongly implicated in a criminal case.

UP Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh said the police are currently at the spot and acting with caution to ensure the safety of the children inside.

"A special team of trained personnel is at the spot and we have kept National Security Guard (NSG) commandos on standby," he said. "Our priority is to ensure the safety of the children and rescue them at the earliest. It is a difficult situation and all senior police officers are at the spot. We want to rescue the children without any collateral damage. The local legislator, Nagendra Singh, is also trying to talk to the man."

Inspector General of Police, Kanpur Range, Mohit Agarwal, said, "The man called the children for a birthday party and held them hostage in the basement of the house. He fired six shots from inside the building."

Sources said top officials of the central government are in touch with the state. "All assistance is being provided to deal with the situation. The safety of children is utmost on the government's mind," they said.

A top home department official has asked the electronic media not to show rescue operation live.

A team of National Security Guard (NSG) left Delhi for Farukkhabad around 11.30 pm on Thursday night.

A huge crowd has collected at the spot, comprising mainly parents of the children who have been held hostage.

Local MLA Nagendra Singh said the accused so far has not made any demands. "When asked about his demands, he opened fire on the locals and the police as well.”

The children are in the age group of five to seven years and they have been in the house for the past seven to eight hours, a distraught mother said around 11 pm.

"They must be thirsty and hungry by now," she said, claiming one of the children is barely two-and a half years old.