Wife of UP hostage-taker lynched by locals after cops rescued 23 children

Farrukhabad, Jan 31: The wife of the man who had taken 23 children hostage died in a hospital after being thrashed by locals, police said on Friday.

The man's wife died on Thursday night severely thrashed and hit with stones by angry locals, IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal said. He said she was rushed to a hospital as she was bleeding from a wound on her head but she succumbed to injuries.

"The woman has succumbed to injuries. We are waiting for the post mortem report to ascertain the reason behind her death," IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal said.

Agarwal said the exact cause of her death would be known after post-mortem.

The man, Subhash Batham, had invited the children to his daughter's birthday party and then held them hostage. They were rescued late on Thursday night after police killed the captor in the village.

The hostage drama began at Kasaria village in the afternoon and continued for about eight hours.

"The accused was killed and there were about 23 children who were rescued safely," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference at 1.20 am.

"The accused had invited the children for the birthday party of his daughter and held them hostage. It started about 5.45 pm on January 30 and continued for about eight hours," Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh said, adding that in the entire operation they had tried to "engage" the accused and were successful.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an award of Rs 10 lakh for the UP Police team that successfully carried out the rescue operation. "All personnel who took part in the operation will be given a certificate of appreciation."