Kanpur encounter: Vikas Dubey's aide, his driver arrested by Maharashtra ATS in Thane

Mumbai: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra Police arrested two men including an absconding aide of slain gangster Vikas Dubey in neighbouring Thane on Saturday, an official said.

Arvind alias Guddan Ramvilas Trivedi (46), an aide of Dubey, was allegedly involved in the killing of eight policemen during a raid on the slain gangster’s house in Kanpur district.

Trivedi and his driver Sushilkunar alias Sonu Tiwari (30) were arrested from Kolshet area of Thane city, said Vikram Deshmane, Superintendent of Police, ATS.

Trivedi, along with Dubey and others, had fled after the ambush at Bikru village in which eight policemen including a deputy superintendent of police were killed on 3 July, he said.

Officials of the Juhu unit of the ATS in Mumbai got information that Trivedi had landed in Mumbai seeking a hide- out, SP Deshmane said. A team led by inspector Daya Nayak, a former ’encounter specialist’ of Mumbai police, nabbed the duo from Kolshet, he said.

During preliminary questioning Trivedi admitted that he and Dubey were involved in the murder of Uttar Pradesh politician Santosh Mishra in 2001 and many other crimes, the SP said.

The ATS has informed Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force (STF) about the arrest, he said.

Dubey, the mastermind of the Kanpur ambush, was killed in an encounter on Friday after he tried to flee following a road accident at Barra area in Kanpur a day after his arrest.