With arrest of aide Guddan Trivedi, UP cops piece together Vikas Dubey’s 7-day run

Police says Guddan Trivedi, a member of the Kanpur Zila Panchayat, played a key role in helping gangster Vikas Dubey evade them for seven days.

Arvind alias Guddan Trivedi (R) with gangster Vikas Dubey (L) | by special arrangement

Lucknow: Gangster Vikas Dubey, controversially killed in an encounter at Kanpur last week, spent a couple of days in UP’s Shivali village and travelled to Faridabad in Haryana in a truck before boarding a bus to Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, where he finally surrendered.

Kanpur SP (Rural) Brajesh Srivastava told ThePrint that the police have pieced together Dubey’s seven-day run from the law, based on the interrogation of Guddan Trivedi, a member of the Kanpur Zila Panchayat and an alleged close associate of the notorious gangster. 

Dubey and his accomplices killed eight policemen who had gone to arrest him at his Bikaru village on 2 July night, and he surrendered in Madhya Pradesh on 9 July. He was killed in a police “encounter” on 10 July. 

SP Srivastav said Guddan Trivedi played a key role in helping Dubey give police the slip in Uttar Pradesh. Trivedi was arrested by the Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on 11 July and was brought back to UP by the Kanpur police. He has since been in judicial remand. 

Srivastava told ThePrint that Trivedi allegedly helped Dubey flee and has hence been charged under Section 120-B (being involved in a conspiracy) and Section 216 (providing shelter to a person whose arrest warrant had been issued) of IPC. 

“Trivedi confessed that not only did he make lodging arrangements for Vikas but also arranged for weapons including a rifle,” the SP said. “He was, however, not personally present in Bikaru village at the time of the shootout that led to the death of the policemen.” 

The seven-day run

According to a police source, Trivedi’s interrogation has revealed that after killing the eight policemen on the night of 2 July, Dubey rode a bike to Shivali village, which is about 6 km from Bikaru village. 

After a few days in Shivali, he allegedly took a car to the state’s Auraiya town. 

“From there, two of his henchmen, Amar Dubey and Prabhat Mishra, accompanied him to Faridabad in a truck,” the police source said. “Trivedi further revealed that he also helped Dubey in travelling to Ujjain.”  

Dubey had reached Ujjain by bus where he surrendered and was arrested in dramatic fashion. 

The police source said Trivedi’s call detail records show that he had been in constant touch with Dubey. 

The police are now looking for 11 others accused of killing the eight policemen, all of whom are absconding. 

“Trivedi’s interrogation has yielded several important clues,” the police source quoted above said. “Police have already raided many places on the basis of his revelations.” 

Sources in the police said due to his status as a member of zila panchayat, Trivedi had connections in all political parties.

Though he was considered to be a close confidant of Vikas Dubey, the sources said Trivedi never directly got involved in any crime. 

Dubey’s cousin held, his wife’s role being probed

The Kanpur police have also arrested Shashikant, son of Dubey’s maternal uncle. A co-accused in the case, Shashikant was picked up Tuesday. 

Sources said Shashikant has told the police that apart from Dubey, his henchmen Amar Dubey and Prabhat Mishra played a key role in the shootout on 2 July. Both Mishra and Dubey were killed by the police in “encounters”.   

The police are also now probing the role of Shashikant’s wife, Manu Pandey, in the crime.  

Three call recordings featuring Manu have gone viral — all of them were allegedly recorded just before the shootout.

“In these recordings, she is doling out vital information about the incident to her relatives,” a police source said.

The police questioned her Wednesday but she is yet to be taken into custody. SP Brajesh Srivastava said Manu’s role appears to be suspicious and that she will be called for questioning again Friday.