MOSCOW, April 10 (Itar-Tass) — Police in the Kemerovo region have freed the hostages held by a drug addict suspected of a series of thefts in the town of Novokuznetsk, the Interior Ministry's press center told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

At around 06:00, Moscow time, on Tuesday, a group of police from the criminal investigation department went to an apartment in Lunacharsky Street in Novokuznetsk, where a man suspected of a series of thefts lived. He has previous criminal convictions. Police also said the man is on file at a detoxication clinic.

"Having seen the detectives, he barricaded himself in an apartment, and took his common law wife and her 70-year-old father hostage. Threatening to stab them to death, he demanded heroin and unhindered exit out of the apartment," the press service said

"Police decided to carry out a special operation, and special task force police were called to the scene.

"While police were negotiating with the hostage-taker through the locked door, special task force police quickly entered the apartment through a window and detained the criminal, who was wielding a knife and tried to inflict wounds on the hostages and police," an Interior Ministry official said.

The operation was over at 08:40, Moscow time. Nobody was hurt. The Interior Ministry described the operation as "excellent." The police taking part in it will be rewarded, the Interior Ministry said.