Kanpur gangster Vikas Dubey arrested in Ujjain; history-sheeter is main accused in encounter that killed 8 cops

Vikas Dubey, the Uttar Pradesh gangster who is accused of killing eight policemen last week, has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh after a week-long hunt involving police across three states.

Eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police, were ambushed in Bikru village in the Chaubeypur area of Kanpur, where they had gone to arrest Vikas Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops last Friday. The notorious history-sheeter had escaped after the massacre. A massive hunt was launched and the bounty on him was raised to Rs five lakh.

Dubey was going to Ujjain Mahakal temple when he was identified by security personnel. “Police were informed, he confessed his identity after being pushed for it. He has been apprehended by police and interrogation is underway,” reports ANI , quoting Ujjain Collector Ashish Singh.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has spoken with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about his arrest. The Madhya Pradesh Police will hand over him to Uttar Pradesh Police.

Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra hailed the arrest, saying it was “a big success for the police”

“Vikas Dubey is a cruel killer. The entire Madhya Pradesh police were on alert. He has been arrested from Ujjain Mahakal temple. We have informed Uttar Pradesh Police,” the minister added.

Vikas Dubey, the main accused in #KanpurEncounter case, has been arrested at a police station in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) pic.twitter.com/104s1YX4Pf

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2020

Dubey was caught in Ujjain district on Thursday at around the same time two of his close aides were killed in separate encounters in Uttar Pradesh. Both of his aides were also wanted in connection with the Kanpur ambush.

While Kartikeya alias Prabhat was killed in Kanpur when he tried to flee from police custody, another aide of Vikas Dubey, Praveen alias Bauwa Dubey, was shot dead in an encounter in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh police said, reports PTI.

His closest aide, Aman Dubey , was killed BY Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) yesterday. Aman, who was carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, was killed in an encounter in Maudaha village in Hamirpur district. He was the third member of Vikas Dubey’s gang to be killed in an encounter with the police.

On Wednesday, suspended Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari and another policeman were arrested on charges of leaking information about police action to the gangster. Tiwari and beat in-charge of Bikru KK Sharma, who were suspended soon after the encounter, have also been arrested on charges of fleeing the encounter site and putting the lives of other policemen in danger, Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar Prabhu told PTI.

Both the suspended sub-inspectors were detained for questioning and later arrested, Prabhu said.

A separate FIR has been registered at the Chaubeypur police station against Tiwari and Sharma for allegedly fleeing the encounter site, a police spokesperson said. Both the SIs allegedly tipped off Dubey, a dreaded gangster, about the impending police raid, he added. Tiwari is said to have been grilled by sleuths from the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

With inputs from agencies