Terror Suspects Belong to ISIS Khurasan, Say Police; Uttar Pradesh on High Alert

Lucknow: An operation to flush out a suspected terrorist from a building in Thakurganj area of the city continued late on Tuesday, with the UP Police saying a second suspect was spotted inside the hideout.

"The operation is still underway. We threw in chilli bombs, but they did not surrender. Initially we thought there was only one suspect but we saw two people inside the house. They also have weapons with them," ADG (Law & Order) Daljeet Choudhary said at the time of publishing this report.

The UP police were tipped-off from one of the southern states about the presence of suspected terrorists in the state. While two were arrested from Kanpur and Etawah, another, identified as Lucknow resident Saiful, was cornered in Haji Colony in Thakurganj. The identity of a second suspect holed up with him was not immediately clear. It is suspected that the men could have links to the low-intensity blast in a Bhopal-Ujjain train on Tuesday.

The men, the UP police said, were from ISIS Khurasan module.

The operation was underway at the time of publishing this report and police said the terror suspects would be taken to the King George Medical College in “whichever condition they are” at the end of the operation.

The operation began at around 4pm. When asked to surrender by the police, the suspected terrorist, who was initially thought to be alone inside the house, reportedly yelled back that he wanted “shahadat” (martyrdom).

Special Task Force IG Aseem Arun and 20 commandos of the STF were at the spot on Tuesday night. Addressing reporters in the evening, Arun had said they were using chilli bombs to try and flush out the suspects.

The area was completely cordoned off with families living in nearby houses moved to safety by the police. Sources said the suspect was living at the house as a tenant for the last four months.

The state is currently in the last leg of the Assembly elections with the seventh and last phase scheduled for March 8.