Police use a ladder to evacuate people from a building near Lindt cafe
Police use a ladder to evacuate people from a building near Lindt cafe, where hostages are being held, in Martin Place in central Sydney December 15, 2014. Australian police locked down the centre of the country's biggest city on Monday after an armed assailant walked into the downtown Sydney cafe, took hostages and forced them to display an Islamic flag, igniting fears of a jihadist attack. Police said they knew of one armed assailant involved in the incident at the Lindt chocolate cafe in the heart of Sydney's financial district, but there could be more. REUTERS/David Gray

Australian police confirmed that the armed assailant, who had held a number of hostages in the Sydney café, was contacted. On the other hand, an image of the suspected gunman was released by Australian news channels.

Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn earlier confirmed in a press conference that there were three people who had managed to escape. She said that police would make sure that they were alright. Burn also said that the officers would work with the witnesses to find out more information about the gunman who had held the hostages. Burn also confirmed that police negotiators had made contact with the gunman and would continue to do so. She, in a video published by The Guardian, hinted that it might take some time to negotiate with the gunman, but the police would like to do it "peacefully." She assured that the police negotiators were "extremely experienced and skilled."

Burn, on the other hand, said that it was not yet clear what had might have motivated the gunman to create such a situation. She said that the negotiators would not mind if the process went on for a few more hours as the priority was the safety of the people who had been held as hostages. At the same time, she said that the police priority was also to ensure the safety of everyone in New South Wales. One of the hostages was seen making a hand gesture which might have indicated that assailant might behead the hostages. A female hostage ran her thumb across the throat. It has been speculated that the hostage might have been asked by the gunman to make the gesture to prove a point to the camera.

The Muslim community in Australia earlier released a statement condemning the "criminal act unequivocally." BBC has quoted the Grand Mufti of Australia and the Australian National Imams Council jointly saying that Islam denounces such actions in part and in whole." In addition to the viral hashtag #sydneysiege, A Twitter hashtag #illridewithyou, promoting support for Australian Muslims is getting viral. A Sydney mosque is reportedly holding multi-faith prayers during maghrib (sunset) as a response to the Sydney siege.

In the meantime, Australian news channels have broadcast an unverified image of the suspected gunman.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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