Lucknow encounter: Two terror suspects, not one holed up in the house, say Police

LUCKNOW: Anti-terror operations to flush out two terrorists, suspected to be linked with the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast, holed up in a house in the outskirts of Lucknow continued late tonight, police said. It said it had found that two terrorists, instead of one, were hiding in the house and had earlier resorted to intermittent firing. An Anti Terror Squad (ATS) officer said "we have withheld firing from our side" to try to catch them alive. Live updates on Lucknow encounter:

• Operation still on. We thought initially that there is one youth inside,but there are two. Trying to arrest them as soon as possible: ADG Law & Order
• "The suspect holed up in Lucknow belongs to a localised group, influenced by ISIS and its literature," Additional Director General (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said.
• He said the ATS operation to flush him out was underway till late in the night.
• Chaudhary also said that two terror suspects have been held in Kanpur and one in Etawah.
• Those arrested in Kanpur might be having some possible links with the person holed up in Kakori Lucknow, he said.
• He also said that since the operation was taking place in a restrained manner, it could take some more time.
• Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to UP DGP Javeed Ahmad, who briefed him about the incident and the action taken.
• Commandoes of paramilitary forces were being rushed to assist the anti-terror squad and local police in capturing the person hiding.
• Home ministry is in contact with the Uttar Pradesh police, says Rajnath Singh

• In order to arrest him alive, we used chilli bombs but he has not come out yet. He is firing intermittently: IG ATS
• The suspect has weapons, ammunition with him but he is alone there, no hostage and nobody else present there: IG ATS
• The moment we knocked the door, the suspect locked the room: IG ATS
• Had received information today about a suspect present in Thakurganj area involved in a terror case, we conducted raids here: IG ATS
• Shared info with central agencies, encounter going on in UP. This was a major terrorist attack, motive under investigation: B Singh, Home Minister, MP
• Police is doing their work well, they are on alert: Hansraj Ahir, MoS Home on terrorists' involvement in Bhopal-Ujjain train explosion

• Three arrested from Pipariya (MP) in connection with Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train explosion
• We were informed that few suspects were lodged in Kanpur and Lucknow. The police and senior officials of the ATS went in the search. The suspect who was found in Kanpur has been arrested. The second suspect has holed himself up in a house in the Thakurganj area of Lucknow. The operation is still on to get him out of the house: Additional Director General (ADG) of Police of Uttar Pradesh Daljeet Choudhary said.
• "We believe this man is a resident of Lucknow. The tip-off that we received came from outside the state. We also suspect him of possessing weapons. We will try our best to bring this operation to its logical end as soon as possible," he added.
• ADG Choudhary also said that they only suspect the presence of just one inside the house. The suspect, said to have fired shots at security forces, has holed himself up in a house.
• "We have been working on the tip-off, but, as far as the linkages and modules are concerned, the details can only revealed once we get hold of the person. For now, we suspect the presence of just one in the building," ADG Choudhary said.
• The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) commandoes are trying to catch the person alive. The area is among the densely populated areas of Lucknow.
• UP ATS had received an input about presence of a militant in a house in Thakurganj area, after which police threw a cordon around the structure.
• The ATS, based on "concrete" information from intelligence, had gone to apprehend Saiful, suspected of involvement in the blast in a train in Madhya Pradesh, from a house in Haji colony of Thakurganj area when he suddenly opened fire on the team.
• Though, the police tried to reach out to the suspect, who has locked himself up in the house, through loudspeakers but he refused to surrender.
• Following this, ATS commandos returned fire at Saiful, who was on the first floor. A senior ATS officer is heading the operation, a senior police official told IANS.
• "We are trying to ensure that he is arrested alive and there is no collateral damage as this is a residential area," said another official.
• At least eight persons were injured in an explosion in a passenger train, going to Ujjain from Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh's Shajapur district on Tuesday, authorities said.

At least eight persons were today injured, two of them seriously, in a blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train. The blast occurred in a general coach of the train between 9.30 AM and 10 AM when it was on its way to Ujjain from Bhopal, (More details awaited)