Inquiry commission probing Vikas Dubey encounter case gives clean chit to UP Police

The panel submitted its report to the state government Monday, eight months after it was set up. The inquiry commission has reportedly found no evidence of wrongdoing by UP police.

File photo of gangster Vikas Dubey being apprehended by police personnel in Ujjain on 9 July 2020 | PTI

Lucknow: The three-member inquiry commission probing the encounter killings of gangster Vikas Dubey and five of his alleged associates has given a clean chit to Uttar Pradesh Police because of lack of evidence, sources said on Wednesday.

The commission is headed by former Supreme Court judge B S Chauhan. The other two members are former Allahabad High Court judge Sashi Kant Agrawal and former UP Director General of Police K L Gupta.

The panel submitted its reported to the state government on Monday, eight months after it was set up.

“Yes the commission has submitted its report to the state government on Monday. A copy of the report will be submitted in the Supreme court also,” Gupta told PTI.

He, however, did not elaborate on the contents of the report.

Asked about it, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said, “I would not like to comment on it.”

According to the sources, the inquiry commission has found no evidence of wrongdoing by the state police.

Speaking to PTI, a senior police official said, “No witnesses came forward to challenge the police claims even after advertisements in newspapers and media. Also, no one from the media came forward to get their versions recorded.”

There were, however, witnesses supporting the police version, he added.

On July 3 last year, eight policemen were killed in an ambush in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Vikas Dubey.

Police later killed Prem Prakash Pandey (55) and Atul Dubey (35) in an encounter in Kanpur on July 3.

On July 8, Amar Dubey (30), who carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on him, was killed in an encounter in Maudaha village in Hamirpur district.

On July 9, Praveen Dubey, alias Bauwa (48), and Prabhat, alias Kartikeya (28), were killed in separate encounters in Etawah and Kanpur districts.

Six PILs were filed in the Supreme Court after this to seek a court-monitored probe into the encounter killings.

The apex court had then on July 22, 2020 approved the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to institute the inquiry commission.