Lone UP gunman killed after 13hour encounter
SELFSTYLED ISLAMIST? Influenced by IS literature, terror suspects had tried and failed several times before, claim police; high alert in state, operations on to sniff out accomplices
The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh police killed a lone gunman, suspected to have been inspired by Islamic State terror outfit, after 13 hours of gunfight in a locality on the outskirts of the state capital.
The encounter began at 2pm on Tuesday and ended about 3am on Wednesday.
The security forces initially believed there were two or more militants holed out in the house but only one body was found.
The state police has sounded a high alert across UP and launched operations in other districts to sniff out more suspects.
Additional director general of police (law and order), Daljit Chawdhary, said on Wednesday evening that Saiful, 23, and five others arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur and Etawah as well as neighbouring Madhya Pradesh were part of a self-radicalised module of IS.
“Their head is Atiq Muzaffar, who was arrested in MP. Two laptops recovered from them suggest they were deeply influenced by IS literature they read on the internet,” he said.
The ATS team recovered explosives, materials used to prepare bombs, firearms, cartridges, knives, three passports, six mobile phones, IS flags and literature and a railway route map of India.
UP director general of police Javeed Ahmad and National Investigation Agency examined the site on Wednesday.
Saiful, believed to have been
COMMANDOS FIRST SUSPECTED THE GUNMAN WAS ALONE, BUT A CAMERA GAVE THE IMPRESSION OF 2 MEN
behind a train blast in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday morning, was injured while exchanging fire the security forces after locking himself in a room.
Commandos had suspected a lone gunman was holding them off, but a micro-camera drilled through the roof gave the impression of two people.
Inspector general of police of ATS Asim Arun, who led the operation, said they had tried to catch the militant alive and him to surrender but he chose to “attain martyrdom”.