Lucknow encounter Suspected terrorist Saiful holed up inside a house operation underway

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An encounter is underway between Uttar Pradesh ATS and a suspected militant in Lucknow's Thakurganj area.

UP ATS had received an input about presence of a militant in a house in Thakurganj area, after which police threw a cordon around the structure.

The ATS, based on "concrete" information from intelligence, had gone to apprehend Saiful, suspected of involvement 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.

Though, the police tried to reach out to the suspect, who has locked himself up in the house, through loudspeakers but he refused to surrender.

Following this, ATS commandos returned fire at Saiful, who was on the first floor. A senior ATS officer is heading the operation, a senior police official told IANS.

"We are trying to ensure that he is arrested alive and there is no collateral damage as this is a residential area," said another official.

At least eight persons were injured in an explosion in a passenger train, going to Ujjain from Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh's Shajapur district on Tuesday, authorities said.