Dy SP, 3 SIs, 4 constables among deceased; Goon’s cousin, uncle later killed in two encounters

An ill-planned police raid to arrest a notorious history-sheeter Vikas Dubey from his residence in Kanpur’s Bikaru village went awry as the cops were ambushed by the ganglord’s henchmen leaving a Deputy SP, three sub-inspectors and four constables dead in the wee hours of Friday. Several teams have been formed and forensic and electronic surveillance teams, along with STF and ATS officials, have been pressed into service to track down the prime accused and his aides who managed to escape, taking advantage of the dark.

Seven other police personnel, including a Station House Officer Vinay Tewari, and a Home Guard, suffered gunshot wounds and are being treated at a Kanpur hospital where the condition of four was stated to be serious.

Dubey is involved in 60-odd heinous crime cases and being a gram pradhan and zila panchayat chairman, his criminal activities are spread up to Allahabad, Gorakhpur and Kanpur Dehat. He is a known for extorting money from businessmen and traders.

Also, he is accused of killing BJP leader Santosh Shukla (State Minister rank) in Sheoli police station on November 11, 2001. He had been arrested by police in this case but during trial, as most of the witnesses turned hostile, he was acquitted.

According to reports, police teams from Bithhoor Chaubeypur and Shivrajpur led by Circle Officer of Bilhaur, Devendra Misra, reached Bikru village in Chaubepur police circle to arrest Dubey around 12.30 am on Friday.

To thwart the force team, Dubey and his aides placed a  JCB machine about 30 metres from his house. As officers and personnel alighted from their vehicles and approached the house, they faced a hail of bullets fired from sophisticated rifles and handguns from rooftops.

The indiscriminate firing resulted in the death of Devendra Misra, Station Officer of Shivrajpur Mahesh Chandra Yadav, Mandhana outpost incharge Anoop Kumar Singh, sub-inspector Nebu Lal, constables Sultan Singh, Rahul, Bablu and Jitendra.

Those who suffered gunshot wounds were identified as SHO of Bithoor, Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, constables Ajay Singh Senger, Ajay Kashyap, Shiv Murat Nishad of Chaubepur police station, sub-inspectors Sudhakar Pandey and Vikas Babu and Homeguard Jairam Patel.

In the ensuing melee, the assailants looted a rifle and two pistols from the police team.

Later ADG, IG, and Kanpur SSP backed by a strong police contingent, rushed to the place and oversaw rescue of the police team under attack.

Subsequently, a police team led by SHO, Harbans Mohal, Satish Singh tracked down Dubey’s cousin Atul Dubey to an abandoned temple around 12 kilometres from Bikru village. As the cops closed in, Atul opened fire and was killed in retaliatory firing.

The cops recovered a service pistol looted from the scene of crime. Similarly, Dubey’s maternal uncle Pram Prakash Pande engaged in exchange of fire with another police team and was killed in a place some kilometres away.

Later on Friday morning, ADG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar and DGP, HC Awasthi inspected the site and supervised investigations.

DGP, HC Awasthi told media persons that the notorious criminal might have got an inkling of the impending raid and as the unaware police personnel approached his house they were fired upon from rooftops leading to their deaths. “The supreme sacrifice of the brave cops will not go waste, the perpetrators will be brought to justice and punished as per law,” he said.

On Friday evening, the bodies of the martyrs were placed in the Kanpur Police Lines and given a Gun Salute as a mark of respect in the presence of senior officers and people’s representatives.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flew to Kanpur to pay tributes to the killed police officers and personnel. Extending condolences to the families of the martyrs, he also met eight other cops, who suffered bullet wounds and were recuperating in a Kanpur hospital.

“The sacrifice of the bravehearts cannot be evaluated by money but the government will always be with their families. Hence it has been decided that each family will be given financial aid of Rs 1 crore each, extraordinary pension and one member from each family will be given a government job,” the Chief Minister promised.

A resident of Bikru (Chaubepur), Dubey is assissted by a battery of young boys inclined towards joining the crime world. Taking contracts for the victory of political party candidates during elections had also become his passion. He had been arrested by the police several times. He was once arrested by the Lucknow STF while he was sentenced to death for the murder of a retired principal Sidheshwar Pandey in Kanpur and was out on bail.