LUCKNOW : In true filmy style, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives escaped from the crowded district and sessions court campus here, opening fire in the air, on Tuesday.

The Lucknow police and Special Task Force launched a joint combing operation in the nearby Nai Basti, a congested locality, and other areas adjoining the City Station. A sub-inspector and two constables who accompanied the undertrial prisoners, Maqsood Ahmed and Mohd Saeed, from the Lucknow district jail, have been placed under suspension and a criminal case has been registered against them. They are being interrogated by the STF.

The LeT operatives, both Pakistanis, were detained under the Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA), for their involvement in the 2001 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Delhi. A CRPF man was killed in the attack.

Home Secretary Arun Kumar Sinha said the POTA detenus were brought to the court around 11 a.m.

As their case was listed for hearing at 12.30 p.m. they were sent to the lockup. Around 11.30 a.m., as they were waiting outside the crowded courtroom, , waiting for their turn, the LeT operatives asked for permission to go to the toilet.

The escape drama began when they emerged from the toilet, according to STF sources. After one of the LeT operatives, armed with a pistol, fired in the air, both ran outside the court with a policeman in hot pursuit. However, the LeT operatives melted into the crowd.

Eyewitness accounts said they asked for one Vicky in Nai Basti and later escaped into the lanes and bylanes dotting the area on two motorcycles driven by two unidentified youths.

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