Lucknow shootout | Vikas Dubey arrest ‘staged’: Opposition, kin of slain CO

Questions raised on how the gangster evaded police across State borders and on the presence of media during the arrest

Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, is arrested at the Mahakal temple in Ujjain on July 9, 2020.

The arrest of fugitive U.P. criminal Vikas Dubey at Ujjain’s Mahakal temple on Thursday morning has been called into question by opposition leaders as well as family members of Circle Officer Devendra Mishra, who was killed in the Bikru ambush.

Congress MP in Rajya Sabha Digvijaya Singh claimed the episode seemed like a “staged surrender” to help Dubey escape an encounter by the U.P. police. “My information is that a senior leader of the Madhya Pradesh BJP has made it possible,” he alleged.

‘Probe contacts’

“The notorious gangster’s contacts with leaders and police personnel must be investigated. While keeping Dubey in judicial custody his complete security should be ensured so that all secrets can come out,” Mr. Singh said on Twitter.

While sharing a media report on Twitter, Mr. Singh also pointed out that Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra was BJP in-charge for the Kanpur region during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. “Does it ring a bell?” asked Mr. Singh.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav asked the government to clarify if it was a surrender or an arrest. He demanded that Dubey’s call records be made public so that the “real collusion” could be revealed.

Kamlakant Mishra, brother of CO Devendra Mishra who led the police raid to Bikru village, said Dubey’s “surrender was carried out in a planned manner”.

“In 12 hours, he reached the doors of the Mahakal [Temple] from Faridabad. And the police that arrested him took the media along with it,” Mr. Mishra told reporters. “How many such encounters and arrests have you seen,” he asked, questioning how Dubey was able to travel such long distance despite the deployment of police at State borders.

‘Wider nexus’

Mr. Mishra said many other people could be involved in the ambush of July 2-3 and demanded action against those helping the wanted criminal stay safe since the incident and until the arrest in Ujjain. “The entire nexus needs to be dismantled,” he added.

The U.P. police claimed they got to know about the arrest through the media. ADG law and order U.P. Prashant Kumar said, “We got to know through the media that he has been arrested,” when asked by a TV channel if anyone provided shelter to Dubey in Ujjain.

Earlier on Thursday, two of Dubey’s accomplices — Bauwa Pandey and Prabhat Mishra — were killed in alleged encounters. The police claimed that both were involved in the Bikru ambush.

Police, escorted by STF, were bringing Prabhat Mishra under transit remand from Faridabad, when near Panki police station in Kanpur one of the tires of the police vehicle allegedly developed a puncture. According to the police, at this the accused Prabhat snatched a police pistol and tried to flee, firing indiscriminately at the police team, said Mr. Prashant Kumar.

Prabhat Mishra was injured in the retaliatory firing by police, said Mr. Kumar. He was taken to a hospital where he later died, said police.

Bauva Dubey alias Praveen, an accomplice of Vikas Dubey, was shot dead in Etawah district, police said.