New Delhi: A nearly seven-hour hostage standoff at a house in Shambhupur village under Ahraula police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh ended early Wednesday after police entered the premises following gunfire from inside. Arvind Singh and his eight-year-old son later died during treatment, while his two daughters were rescued alive.
Police accused Singh of shooting his wife, Babita Singh, 32, and two priests, Mahendra Pathak, 60, and Akhilesh Mishra, 50, during a religious ritual on Tuesday evening before barricading himself inside with the three children. Police said a licensed firearm was used.
The additional director general of police, Varanasi Zone, Naveen Arora, said officers spent around seven hours trying to persuade Singh to surrender and release the children. According to the police account, he repeatedly refused to come out and asked officers to wait until morning before opening fire from inside.
Senior officers, including district magistrate Ravindra Kumar, SSP Anil Kumar, DIG Sunil Kumar Singh and ADG Varanasi Zone Naveen Arora, reached the scene, while an ATS (anti-terrorist squad) commando team was also brought in for the rescue operation.
Arora said the senior superintendent of police and three or four special operations group personnel entered the house after stun grenades and tear gas were used. He said the team came under fire and responded with limited retaliatory firing, with police personnel firing three or four rounds. No police officer was reported injured.
Police found the boy with a gunshot wound and moved him to hospital first. He later died during treatment. The two daughters were rescued and taken for medical examination; Arora said they were traumatized, dehydrated and had gone without adequate food and water during the standoff.
Ritual dispute under investigation
Police accounts differ on the immediate purpose of the ritual. One preliminary account said Arvind’s mother had invited priests to perform prayers for his brother Sunil, who was killed in 2019, while the SSP said the family had organized the ceremony because they believed Arvind was under the influence of an “evil spirit”.
Police said Arvind returned home while the ritual was underway, questioned the priests’ presence and demanded to see their Aadhaar cards. An argument followed, after which he allegedly opened fire, killing his wife and two priests. Investigators are still establishing the precise trigger and sequence of events.
Forensic teams examined the house and collected evidence, while the bodies were sent for postmortem examination. Police said an FIR and the required inquiry into the firing would follow; the exact Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions had not been publicly released at the latest update.