Lucknow siege ends, suspected ISIS terrorist killed
The anti-terror operation in Lucknow, which lasted for almost 11 hours, ended on Wednesday after the body of suspected Islamic State terrorist was recovered from the house where he had been holed up. The man, identified as Saifullah, was suspected of being involved in the explosion on an Ujjain-Bhopal train in Madhya Pradesh which injured nine people.
After 11 hours, the Lucknow siege has finally come to an end with the suspected terrorist Saiful killed in the encounter. The target of the operation was a house in Haji Ali Colony in Thakurganj, on the outskirts of Lucknow. Early on, the operation seemed limited in its scope, with the police using chilli bombs and stun grenades to flush out the militants.The standoff began early Tuesday evening, hours after at least ten people were injured in a blast on the Ujjain Express. Suspected ISIS terrorist Saiful from the Lucknow siege is believed to be linked to the blast.The operation and the blast both came a day before today's seventh phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, but there have been no indications that the developments are linked to the five-state Assembly elections, the results for which will be announced March 11. ISIS MODULE AT WORK?Saiful lived at the Thakurganj home with two other youngsters. The trio moved into the home, which belongs to a Saudi Arabia-based person called Badshah, around three months ago.They were known to keep to themselves and seldom stepped out of the house except for early morning jogs and to buy essentials.Saiful is believed to be part of a larger ISIS-inspired module that is suspected to be behind the Tuesday morning train blast.The module is believed to include Saiful, the two men arrested in Kanpur, the one nabbed in Eatawah and the three detained in Madhya Pradesh.Atif Muzaafffar, one of the three men arrested in Madhya Pradesh, is believed to be the leader of the module.