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Probe panel gives clean chit to police in killing of Vikas Dubey, others in encounters
Inquiry commission report tabled in UP assembly, says Vikas Dubey and his gang members enjoyed the patronage of local officials. It also states that the evidence and post-mortem reports support the police version
A three-member inquiry commission’s report has said there is no suspicion or doubt about the police version of the killing of gangster Vikas Dubey and other members of his gang in encounters after the Bikru ambush in Kanpur in July last year as nobody from the public or the media came to contradict the police claim and no evidence was filed in rebuttal.
It also said there was sufficient material on record to show that Dubey and his gang had the patronage of the local police, revenue and administrative officials.
Uttar Pradesh parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna tabled the report in the state assembly on Thursday.
Eight police personnel, including deputy superintendent of police, were killed during a raid on Dubey’s house at Bikru village in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh on the night of July 2-3, 2020.
Later, Dubey was killed in an encounter when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from custody, the police had said.
The commission headed by Justice (Retd) BS Chauhan also stated in its report that the evidence and post-mortem reports supported the police version of the killing of Dubey and other members of his gang.
The commission Richa Dubey, the wife of Vikas Dubey, had filed an affidavit, calling the incident a fake encounter, but she did not appear before the commission.
In such an eventuality, there was no suspicion or doubt about the police version of this incident and the magisterial inquiry report conducted by CMM (chief metropolitan magistrate) Kanpur had a similar finding, the commission observed.
The commission comprised Justice (Retd) BS Chauhan, Justice (Retd) SK Agarwal and former UP director general of police KL Gupta. It had submitted a 824-page report to the state government on April 21.
The report also stated that if any person lodged a complaint against Dubey, the complainant was humiliated by the police.
The inquiry commission report observed that though Dubey’s name appeared on the list of top-10 criminals in the police circle, he was not on the list of top-10 criminals of the district. Rather, members of his gang were included in a peace committee to resolve communal disputes, it noted, adding that the family members of Dubey were elected to local bodies. Most of the family members were granted arms licence, passport and fair price shop on the recommendations of the competent authorities, the report further stated.
Investigation in any case lodged against the members of the gang was never impartial, the report said.
Dubey and his associates got bail orders easily as there was no serious opposition by state authorities, it further said. There was total failure of the intelligence unit in Kanpur in gathering information about the possession of sophisticated weapons by Vikas Dubey, the commission report said.
