Kanpur ambush: Last absconding Vikas Dubey aide arrested; accused carried Rs 50,000 reward

Kanpur: Another accused of the Kanpur ambush during which eight policemen were killed by the henchmen of slain gangster Vikas Dubey was arrested on Monday, police said. Ravindra Kumar alias Ramu Bajpai was carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest. He was held at Baba Kuaan crossing in the Chaubepur police station area. A rifle allegedly used in the ambush in Kanpur’s Bikru village on the night of 2 July and live cartridges were recovered from him, Superintendent of Police (rural) Brajesh Srivastava said. Ramu was named in the FIR along with 20 other accused persons, including Dubey who was gunned down in a police encounter on 10 July while being taken to Kanpur from Ujjain. The dreaded gangster was allegedly caught by security guards at the Mahakal Temple, the SP said. A case has been registered against Bajpai under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. “The intensive interrogation is being made to ascertain his role in the Bikru ambush,” the SP said, adding that efforts are on to explore information about the arms and ammunition used in the crime. Earlier, Dubey’s aides Daya Shankar Agnihotri, Shyamu Bajpai, Jahan Yadav, Shashikant Pandit, Monu, Shivam Dubey, Guddan Trivedi, Gopal Saini, Hiru Dubey, Bal Govind, Shiv Tiwari, Vishnupal Yadav, Ram Singh, and Bawwa Shukla were arrested either by the UP STF or Kanpur Police or surrendered before the court. Six prime accused - Vikas Dubey, Prabhat Mishra, Amar Dubey, Baua Dubey, Prem Kumar Pandey and Atul Dubey - were gunned down in separate encounters since 3 July.