In the first crackdown on cops-criminal nexus in the Bikru ambush case of Kanpur, the Uttar Pradesh government placed DIG PAC in Moradabad, Anant Deo Tewari, under suspension on the recommendation of the special investigation team and ordered a departmental enquiry against him.
The suspension order was issued on Thursday evening, confirmed Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi.
Facing allegations of nexus with criminals, Tewari was earlier shunted out from prime posting as DIG of Special Task Force and posted as DIG of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Moradabad.
The action was taken after Tewari was alleged to have overlooked a letter that surfaced after the Bikru incident, written by slain DySP Devendra Mishra, alleging a nexus between gangster Vikas Dubey and suspended Chaubeypur police station in-charge Vinay Tewari.
Anant Deo Tewari, who was posted as SSP of Kanpur Nagar, is considered to be close to Dubey’s aide and had given patronage to the Chaubeypur police station incharge.
Sources said that though Tewari got relief in the inquiry conducted against him by IG, Lucknow Range, Lakshmi Singh, but the SIT formed by the state government to look into the role of police officers for giving patronage to Vikas Dubey indicted him and recommended action against him along with some other officers.
Many of the local policemen then posted in Kanpur Nagar are already behind the bar for helping Vikas Dubey to run his empire.
It may be mentioned that the state government had constituted the SIT under Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy. The other members are ADG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud.
The SIT had to submit its report by July 31 after looking into all the angles, studying all related documents and spot inspection in Kanpur Nagar. However, it got an extension.
On July 3 last, eight police personnel, including a DySP, were gunned down in Bikru village by the henchmen of Dubey. Seven others, including a civilian, were injured in the attack from the rooftop after the police team entered the village past midnight on July 2 to arrest Dubey.