Uttar Pradesh govt forms commission to probe Kanpur ambush, Vikas Dubey's encounter

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday constituted a one-member commission to probe the Kanpur ambush and police encounter with gangster Vikas Dubey . UP Governor Anandiben Patel appointed retired Allahabad High Court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal to probe the incidents and submit a report within two months, according to a government notification. Any change in its tenure shall be at the behest of the government, it said. The panel was set up under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952 and it will be based in Kanpur. Meanwhile, a government statement said the one-member commission will also probe the gangster’s “relationship” with police and people from various departments. It will suggest ways so as to prevent such a repetition in future, it said. A government spokesperson said the killing of eight policemen in the ambush on the intervening night of 2 and 3 July by Vikas Dubey and his henchmen and the gangster’s encounter on 10 July are “subject(s) of public importance”. “Hence, their probe is essential,” the spokesperson said, adding that the panel will also investigate “all encounters in the period from 2-3 to 10 July “. Earlier, the Congress had demanded a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the entire episode to bring out the truth and identify those who had granted protection to Dubey. “The Congress demanded that the unholy nexus between organised crime and the ilk of Vikas Dubey with those sitting in the echelons of power be probed by a sitting Supreme Court judge,” party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said at a press conference. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too had demanded a judicial probe by a sitting SC judge. On Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted a special investigation team to probe all aspects related to the slain gangster besides the alleged laxity and role of the local police. Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy is heading the team, which will have Additional DG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud as its members, according to an official statement. The SIT will submit its report by July 31 after looking into all the angles, studying all related documents and spot inspection in Kanpur, it said. The team has been asked to probe what effective action was taken in all cases lodged against Dubey.