Sydney siege: Armed police storm Lindt Cafe, rescues Indian among others
Mangalore Today News Network
Bengaluru, Dec 15, 2014 (DHNS): Heavily armed police stormed Sydney’s Lindt Cafe where gunman has been holding hostages for the last 16 hours.
Meanwhile, Infosys employee Ankireddy Vishwakant, who was among about 30 people held hostage at the cafe has been rescued unhurt, according to reports.
Reports claimed that four hostages were hurt in the operation. TV visuals showed a few hostages running out of the cafe and others were carried out by paramedics.
The Australian media identified the gunman as Iran-born cleric Man Haron Monis, a 50-year-old who was granted asylum in Australia in 1996.
TV clips showed him as a bearded man with a white headgear who had been previously charged with sexually attacking seven women and trying to kill his former wife.
An Indian employee of Infosys was among about 30 people held hostage at a cafe in Sydney’s bustling business district -- in the first terrorist attack on Australian soil.
Australian Hostage Taker Named as Iranian Refugee Charged With Assault
Australian security forces on Tuesday stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours.
Heavy gunfire and loud bangs rang out shortly after 2 am local time (1500 GMT on Monday), and moments earlier at least six people believed to have been held captive had managed to flee the scene.
Medics moved in and took away several injured people on stretchers, but it was not clear whether they included the gunman who had been named by a police source only minutes earlier.
He was identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh facing multiple charges of sexual assault.
He was also found guilty in 2012 of sending offensive and threatening letters to families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as a protest against Australia’s involvement in the conflict, according to local media reports.
Police Storm Cafe to End Sydney Hostage Siege
Heavily armed police officers ended a hostage siege in Sydney early Tuesday, storming a downtown cafe where an armed man said to be a self-proclaimed sheik held hostages for more than 16 hours.
Live television images of the scene showed intense flashes of gunfire and the explosive sound of loud ammunition rounds. Police were racing into the building with weapons drawn, followed by medics with stretchers. But the number of casualties was not immediately clear.
"Sydney siege is over. More details to follow," the New South Wales Police said in a Twitter message about 2:45 am.
Just before the police entered the building, at least six hostages were seen running from the cafe.