Gangster Vikas Dubey, who was arrested for the killing of eight policemen, has been shot dead by the police following an encounter. Dubey, who was arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain on Thursday following a 6-day manhunt, was being brought to Kanpur when the vehicle he was travelling in overturned. Dubey then reportedly tried to flee and was shot dead in the encounter that followed.
Here is a brief timeline of events:
July 3: At least eight Uttar Pradesh Police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed and seven others injured in an encounter with criminals in Kanpur. The encounter took place when a police team was approaching to arrest Vikas Dubey, a history-sheeter facing 60 criminal cases, in Dikru village under the Chaubeypur police station.
As the police team was about to reach the hideout of the dreaded criminal, a hail of bullets was showered on them from a building rooftop, leaving Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables dead, the officials said.
The police had then said that the notorious criminal might have got an inkling of the impending raid as he and his henchmen had put up massive roadblocks to prevent the police personnel from proceeding towards their hideout. As the police team was caught unawares, the criminals fired at them from a building rooftop, leading to the deaths, Awasthi said.
Dubey had previously been accused of allegedly killing Santosh Shukla, an MoS-rank BJP leader, inside a police station in 2001.
The raid had followed an FIR under attempt to murder charges was filed against Dubey by a local resident Rahul Tiwari. Station officer Vinay Tiwari had initially led a small police team to Dubey's house in a bid to persuade him to settle the issue but Dubey is believed to have thrashed and threatened the SO in his den. A police team then reached the spot to conduct a raid but was caught by surprise.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the family members of the slain policemen and announced financial assistance of Rs 1 crore each to the bereaved families.
July 4: Over 25 teams of the Uttar Pradesh police were formed to find Vikas Dubey. A station officer was suspended after allegations of his involvement in the killing of eight policemen. Vikas Dubey’s house in Kanpur was demolished and his cars were demolished using the same earth mover that the criminals had used to block the road and ambush the police team near the house.
July 5: Vikas Dubey’s main aide, Dayashankar Agnihotri, was arrested. He was injured in his leg in retaliatory firing by police after he tried to attack them and flee. The police also took into custody a sub-divisional officer (SDO) and another employee at an electricity sub-station, from where power supply was snapped ahead of the failed raid to arrest Dubey.
July 6: Even as Vikas Dubey remained absconding, the reward for his arrest was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh. Three more policemen were suspended on the suspicion that they had tipped off Vikas Dubey. Meanwhile, a letter purportedly written by DSP Devendra Mishra weeks before his death in the raid, alleged that station officer Vinay Tiwari had got a serious charge against Dubey dropped. A probe was launched into the letter.
July 7: Three more people — Dubey's relative Shama, neighbor Suresh Verma and domestic help Rekha — were arrested.
July 8: Vikas Dubey’s aide, Amar Dubey, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000, was killed in an encounter in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh. In a separate encounter, another aide Shyamu Bajpai was arrested after he was shot in the leg by the police in Chaubeypur area. The reward for Dubey’s arrest was increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Three alleged accomplices of Vikas Dubey were arrested after a raid at a house in Faridabad. Two suspended sub inspectors, Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari and Bikru beat in-charge K K Sharma, were arrested in connection with the case.
July 9: Gangster Vikas Dubey was arrested from outside a temple in the pilgrimage city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh after purchasing prasad and an entry ticket to the shrine. Dramatic visuals of his arrest had gone viral on social media, where he was seen shouting "Main Vikas Dubey hoon, Kanpur wala (I am VIkas Dubey of Kanpur)."
Two more aides of gangster Vikas Dubey were killed in separate encounters in Uttar Pradesh. While Kartikeya alias Prabhat was gunned down in Kanpur when he tried to flee from police custody, another aide of Vikas Dubey, Praveen alias Bauwa Dubey, was killed in an encounter in Etawah, the police said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition sought a CBI probe into the killing of the policemen and against those involved in leaking the police’s plans.
July 11: Gangster Vikas Dubey was being brought from Ujjain to Kanpur when the police vehicle he was travelling in met with an accident, according to the police. After the accident, Dubey snatched the pistol of an STF personnel and tried to flee but was surrounded by the police team and he was injured in an exchange of fire. Vikas Dubey was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
(With PTI inputs)