Lucknow: UP gangster and the main accused in the killing of eight police personnel at Kanpur, Vikas Dubey, was killed in a police encounter Friday morning. According to UP Police, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) was bringing Dubey back to Kanpur from Ujjain, where he had surrendered, when he allegedly attempted to flee.
Mohit Agarwal, Inspector General, Kanpur Range, confirmed the gangster’s death. “Gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter when he tried to flee after a road accident,” IG Agarwal said.
“Gangster Vikas Dubey attempted to flee after the car overturned,” said the Kanpur Superintendent of Police (West) Anil Kumar. “Police tried to make him surrender but he fired at the policemen. He was injured in retaliatory firing by police.” Kumar added that Dubey was later admitted to a hospital where he died.
The opposition in UP, however, has begun raising questions on what they claim is a ‘police encounter’.
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hinted at a cover-up while party colleagueJitin Prasada tweeted that people expect justice and not revenge from the government. Former chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also accused the government of a cover up.
अपराधी का अंत हो गया, अपराध और उसको सरंक्षण देने वाले लोगों का क्या?
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 10, 2020
सरकार से लोग न्याय की उम्मीद करते हैं, बदले की नहीं…… यही सिपाही और अपराधी में फर्क होता है। #VikasDubey
— Jitin Prasada जितिन प्रसाद (@JitinPrasada) July 10, 2020
दरअसल ये कार नहीं पलटी है, राज़ खुलने से सरकार पलटने से बचाई गयी है.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 10, 2020
Also read: Vikas Dubey, a criminal for police but ‘dabang neta’ with clout in all parties for villagers
The Dubey file
Dubey is the main accused in the killing of eight police personnel in Kanpur last week. The eight men were part of a police team that had gone to arrest the gangster, who had a number of cases against him. The team was ambushed and came under a hail of bullets when it approached Dubey’s hideout, killing a deputy SP, three sub-inspectors and four constables.
Dubey was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh Thursday, and was being brought to Kanpur Friday morning. According to police sources, the encounter took place at the Sachendi border in Kanpur. Four police constables have also sustained injuries.
On Thursday, the UP police had killed two other associates of Dubey — Prabhat Mishra and Baua Dubey — in separate encounters in Kanpur.
According to police sources, Dubey had driven from his village of Bikru in Kanpur to Faridabad in Haryana, where he escaped from a hotel just before the police arrived. He then drove to Kota in Rajasthan and finally to Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, without being checked in the 1,500 km long journey.
He was finally apprehended at the Mahakal temple in Ujjain.
Also read: Bhujiya, bicycle, bathroom: TV news scripts potboiler story of Vikas Dubey before UP Police