Lucknow/New Delhi, Jul 10 (UNI) Gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in an alleged encounter by Uttar Pradesh police in Kanpur early on Friday morning while he was trying to ‘flee’ from the clutches of the cops.
The incident occurred at around 0630 hrs near Bhauti area of Kanpur on the National Highway 2 when the police vehicle ferrying Vikas from Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh overturned, according to the police.
As per a statement issued by Special Task Force, the driver of the car in which Vikas was travelling, lost control near Kanihya Lal Hospital under Sachendi police station area, when a herd of cows and buffaloes suddenly came in the middle of the highway.
The vehicle got overturned and the security personnel were injured and lost their conscious for a while, the STF said.
Taking advantage of the situation, Vikas snatched the service pistol of a policeman and jumped out of the overturned vehicle.
Another vehicle of the STF, which was following it, reached the spot and a team, led by DSP Tej Bahadur, chased the criminal.
The policemen asked him to surrender, but when he fired, they too retaliated, in which Vikas was injured. The accused was taken to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the STF said.
Two personnel of the STF were also injured in the alleged encounter.
In a photo that emerged after the incident, a police vehicle could be seen overturned in middle of the highway.
After a seven-day-long massive manhunt, Dubey was nabbed from Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple in Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning.
He was the prime accused in killing of eight policemen on the intervening night of July 2-3 when a police team went to his residence at Bikru village within Kanpur district’s Choubepur area to nab him. Among the deceased was a deputy superintendent of police.
The 56-year-old gangster was among the most wanted criminals in Uttar Pradesh. More than 60 cases of various crimes including murders have been registered against the history-sheeter.
In the span of seven days, various media reports surfaced alleging Dubey having political links and connections in the state’s apparatus as well as receiving patronage from the police itself.
A three-month-old letter allegedly written by late DSP Devendra Mishra, claiming links between the now suspended Chaubeypur station officer and gangster Dubey, also surfaced on social media. Mishra was one of the policemen killed in the shootout.
It was believed that with his arrest and interrogation it will be known whether these reports were true or merely false allegations.
However, his alleged encounter gave a recipe to the opposition.
Terming the encounter 'fake', Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on his twitter handle, "In fact, the car did not overturn, the government has been saved from overturning from the revealing of secrets."
Both Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi demanded a judicial probe monitored by the Supreme Court.
In a tweet, Ms Mayawati said, "There should be an impartial probe monitored by the Honourable Supreme Court into the killing of policemen in Kanpur and main accused Vikas Dubey's encounter "
"Law and order situation have worsened in the UP. The collusion between politicians and criminals is dominating. In Kanpur ambush, this nexus has come in open. The entire incident should be probed by a sitting judge of Supreme Court," Ms Gandhi wrote on her twitter handle in hindi.
However, the killing of Dubey got all praise from the family members of the slain policemen.
“I am very proud of UP police. Whatever they have done, has brought solace to my soul,” Tirath Pal, father of late constable Jitendra Pal said.
Injured constable Ajay Kashyap said it will restore confidence in police and government.
Wife of constable Sultan Singh, Urmila Verma, though praised the police but still desired to know who were ‘backing’ the criminal.
Meanwhile, a complaint has been made to the Human Rights Commission regarding the working style of the police.
In her complaint, social worker Dr Nutan Thakur said Vikas Dubey's act was extremely heinous but the police ‘illegal’ acts of extremely condemnable.
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