Gangster wanted to destroy evidence; his arrest on Mahakal temple premises of MP’s Ujjain sparks debate whether he surrendered for fear of being killed
The most hyped manhunt carried out by the cops of Uttar Pradesh police in last six days finally culminated in a dramatic climax when gangster Vikas Dubey surrendered in the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain on Thursday morning.
According to reports, the gangster told the police that he wanted to burn the bodies of the slain cops to destroy evidence. However, he did not have enough time to do so.
His arrest in Mahakal temple premises sparked debate whether he surrendered for fear of being killed.
Dubey travelled 1,500 kilometers from Faridabad to Ujjan within 24 hours for a tryst with the Mahakal and his destiny.”Main Vikas Dubey hun, Kanpur wala (I am Vikas Dubey from Kanpur),” screamed the Uttar Pradesh gangster. This reportedly alerted security guards at the Ujjain temple who informed the police.
As policemen walked him towards a police car, Vikas Dubey shouted again, “Main Vikas Dubey hun, Kanpur wala”. ADG Law and Order, Prashant Kumar confirmed the development and claimed that the STF team was immediately dispatched to Ujjain to take custody of Dubey.”Vikas 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 the police and interrogation is underway,” Ashish Singh, Ujjain Collector told mediapersons.
Singh said Vikas Dubey initially refused to reveal his identity. He also showed a PAN card carrying the name of one Shubham. He produced more Identity Cards, as per which he was 28 years of age. An argument followed, but by then the police arrived and took him into custody. There were two more people with Dubey, who have also been arrested.
Security cameras installed inside the temple premises caught Dubey making an appearance at the Mahakal temple at around 8.50 am. Dubey then went to a shop located outside the temple and asked how a ticket could be purchased and enquired about darshan at the temple. The owner of the shop identified Dubey. The man claimed that when Dubey approached him, he was not wearing a mask and was calling for a person named Bunty. The temple shop owner then informed a guard at the Mahakal temple.
By then, Dubey had already purchased a darshan ticket and entered the temple. Dubey has been on the run for almost a week, ever since the ambush and killing of eight police personnel in Kanpur. As police searched for him in Haryana, Delhi, a close watch was kept on the Indo-Nepal border.
A photograph that has gone viral, shows Dubey sitting comfortably on a sofa inside the temple complex in Ujjain soon after his arrest. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra first confirmed the development. He told reporters that Dubey is in the State police’s custody in Ujjain. The Minister, however, did not confirm if the dreaded gangster, who was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on information leading to his arrest, was nabbed from within or outside the Mahakal temple premises. Later, Dubey was whisked away to an unidentified location for medical examination and questioning.
Meanwhile, two more aides of Dubey were gunned down in separate encounters in Uttar Pradesh. While Kartikeya alias Prabhat was killed in Kanpur when he tried to flee from police custody, Praveen alias Bauwa Dubey was shot dead in an encounter in Etawah, the police said. Kartikeya, who was arrested from Faridabad on Wednesday, was being brought to Kanpur on transit remand when he snatched the pistol of a policeman and tried to flee, ADG, Law and Order Prashant Kumar said. “The encounter took place in the Panki area of Kanpur when a police team was bringing Kartikeya alias Prabhat from Faridabad to Kanpur on transit remand.
The police vehicle had a flat tyre. Taking advantage of the situation, Kartikeya tried to flee after snatching the pistol of a policeman,” he said.
Kartikeya opened fire at the policemen accompanying him, injuring two Special Task Force (STF) personnel, and was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, the officer said. Praveen alias Bauwa Dubey, wanted in connection with last week’s Kanpur ambush, was killed in an encounter in Etawah, the police said. He was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on information leading to his arrest,” Etawah Superintendent of Police (SP) Akash Tomar said.
Five persons have so far been killed in separate police encounters since the Kanpur ambush. Earlier, Amar Dubey was killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur on Wednesday, while Prem Prakash Pandey and Atul Dubey were gunned down in an encounter in Kanpur on July 3.
A series of coincidences leading to gangster Vikash Dubey’s arrest from Mahakal temple in Ujjain have raised doubts on whether it was a stage-managed surrender.On Wednesday, after Dubey escaped from a Faridabad hotel where his three aides were arrested, SP of Ujjain, Manoj Kumar Singh effected some transfers in which Mahakal Temple police station in-charge, Prakash Vashkaly was shifted and was replaced by Arvind Singh Tomar. Sources also claimed that DM of Ujjain, Ashish Singh along with the SP also reached Mahakal temple on Wednesday night.What transpired in the secret meeting is unknown, but hours later on Thursday morning, Dubey visited the temple for a ‘darshan’ and declared his identity. He was then was detained by temple security and later handed over to the police.Was it not possible that Dubey feared being killed in an encounter in the same manner his aides were snuffed out by the cops and hence he stage-managed surrender at the temple?Similarly, despite the STF and Kanpur Police being on his tail till Wednesday and police on the alert in UP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, how did Dubey reach Ujjain from Faridabad covering 800 kilometers and who helped him in his transit without being questioned?It’s still not clear whether he was really identified by the temple security after which he shouted ‘Main Vikas Dubey hun’ or did he identify himself with the purpose of being taken into police custody in a place where he had no crimes?Likewise photos of Dubey inside the temple premises surfaced shortly after his detention. Who clicked these photos? Also whether some media outfits were tipped-off about Dubey’s ‘surrender’ to prominently project that he was indeed taken into custody by MP Police ‘alive’.