Lucknow encounter that lasted 11 hours: Here’s all you need to know

The 11-hour Lucknow encounter ended with the death of terrorist Saifullah, who had links with ISIS

By: News Desk |
March 8, 2017 1:24 pm

Just a day ahead of last phase polling in the state, an encounter between a terrorist—who belongs to the Khurasan module of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—and Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) broke out late evening in Haji colony of Thakurganj area in Lucknow. Here’s the timeline.

ATS took 12 hours to neutralise terrorist

The encounter lasted for around 12 hours. ATS commandos managed to gun down the terrorist in the wee hours of Wednesday. After the initial exchange of fire, the ATS commandos lobbed chilly bombs inside the house to incapacitate him, but to no avail. The team then bored a hole in the roof and blew up the back wall of the building to enter the house. The operation that began around 3.30 pm was closely monitored by the Union Home Ministry.

“Had received information today about a suspect present in Thakurganj area involved in a terror case, we conducted raids here,” Aseem Arun, IG ATS said.

Had received information today about a suspect present in Thakurganj area involved in a terror case, we conducted raids here:IG ATS pic.twitter.com/YCLivTZ9OZ

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 7, 2017

At least 20 commandos were involved in the operation.

Lucknow: Thakurganj operation ends, ISIS Khorasan module terrorist gunned down pic.twitter.com/u567zOPtHM

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

About the terrorist

At around 5.30 pm in the evening, police identified the terrorist as Saiffulah. Based on “concrete” information from the intelligence, the ATS had gone to apprehend Saiffulah—who was suspected to be involved 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. The train explosion happened on March 7 in the passenger train going to Ujjain from Bhopal in which eight people were injured.

ISIS Khorasan module terrorist gunned down in Thakurganj operation that lasted for nearly 10 hrs, visuals from the room where he was present pic.twitter.com/epZ924enUq

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

After the blast, a joint operation by Uttar Pradesh police and Madhya Pradesh Police was launched in both the states, in which eight arrests were made. The accused—Danish, Mir Hussain and Atish Muzaffar—were arrested from Pipariya in MP. Two more, Mohammad Faisal and Mohammad Irfan, were nabbed from Jajmau near Kanpur, while another suspect, Alam, was arrested from Etawah in UP.

Where the terrorist holed up?

The house where the terrorist was holed up belonged to Badshah Khan, a resident of Malihabad.

Lucknow: ATS UP sealed #LucknowTerrorOp site pic.twitter.com/dZGGKM5g72

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

And, as per the reports, the accused had been living there with two others for the past two months.

Visual from the room in Thakurganj where ISIS Khorasan module terrorist had locked himself, #LucknowTerrorOp lasted for nearly 10 hrs pic.twitter.com/B8KqvZhquO

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

What ATS recovered after the encounter?

ATS police personnel recovered eight pistols, 650 rounds of ammunition, 50 fired rounds, explosives materials, gold, some cash, passports and SIM cards from the terrorist.

8 pistols,650 rounds of ammo,50 fired rounds,explosives materials,gold,cash, passports&SIM cards recovered.Tracking 2 more perons: IG ATS UP pic.twitter.com/geYKsn6oY5

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

Visual from the room in Thakurganj where ISIS Khorasan module terrorist had locked himself, #LucknowTerrorOp lasted for nearly 10 hrs pic.twitter.com/B8KqvZhquO

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017

What Madhya Pradesh CM said?

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that the train blast on March 7 was carried out by the ISIS terrorists and they have even sent a photo of the planted bomb to Syria.

The train blast yesterday was by ISIS terrorists. They even sent photo of the planted bomb to Syria: CM Shivraj Chauhan pic.twitter.com/uz161Jswbc

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 7, 2017

With the bomb blast in Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train, the first ever recorded presence of the deadly terror group Islamic State (ISIS) has been marked in India.