Vikas Dubey killing meant to protect ‘unholy nexus’, alleges Oppn

The UP police claimed Vikas Dubey was killed when he snatched a policeman’s gun and tried to flee after a car bringing him back from Madhya Pradesh, where he was arrested on Thursday, overturned.

Opposition parties have criticised the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government over gangster Vikas Dubey’s killing on Friday morning — after he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the July 3 killing of eight policemen in Kanpur — suggesting that this was a move to protect the “politics-crime nexus” in the state, and demanded a probe.

The UP Police had also killed at least five of Dubey’s accomplices involved in the attack on the policemen and demolished his bungalow. (PTI)

The UP police claimed Dubey was killed when he snatched a policeman’s gun and tried to flee after a car bringing him back from Madhya Pradesh, where he was arrested on Thursday, overturned.

In a series of tweets, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati underlined the necessity for a high-level probe for justice. “A probe under the Supreme Court should be done into the killing of the policemen and then overturning of the car in which the UP [Uttar Pradesh] police were bringing the heinous criminal Vikas Dubey... and Dubey’s killing by the police,” she said.

Mayawati added a high-level probe is necessary for justice to the families of the policemen, and to identify the nexus between “police and criminal politics” and for the strongest of punishment for those involved. “Only by taking such steps, UP could be made crime-free.”

Another former chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, who heads the Samajwadi Party, said in a tweet in Hindi: “It is not the car that overturned, the government saved itself from overturning by preventing the secrets from coming out.”

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress’s general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge, raised questions about Dubey’s protectors. “Fine, the criminal [Dubey] is dead but what about those who protected him and his crime?” she tweeted.

In Delhi, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: “Who are the people sitting in the echelons of power, who were protecting criminals like Vikas Dubey? What is the connection of Vikas Dubey, what are the secrets or the beans that he was about to spill of those sitting in the echelons of power that an encounter of this nature took place?”

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, a former ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that what had been “suspected“ had happened. “Had Vikas Dubey spilled the beans, then a lot of leaders and officers would have been in trouble,” he said.

The UP Police had also killed at least five of Dubey’s accomplices involved in the attack on the policemen and demolished his bungalow. They have also arrested at least a dozen people, including a police personnel, who aided the gangster’s escape and sheltered him. Dubey’s wife was also detained on Thursday, but they were released on Friday.

Hari Krishna Srivastava, UP BJP spokesperson: “He was a heinous criminal. He had been changing his mind and looks like after the surrender he changed it once again and attempted to escape. He had committed several murders before the killing of the eight policemen. Was a longstanding hardcore criminal. People in the region where he came from took a sigh of relief after he was gunned down. All those who have been criticising the government and police should take all these things into account and if they have any doubts then when the magisterial probe would happen, they can raise those issues there instead of making statements on guesswork.”

A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kanpur inspector Anurag Mishra will investigate the case.

Praising the UP police for the encounter, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, a media advisor to the UP chief minister said, “It was a brave encounter. Police had been working hard for six days. Vikas Dubey was a heinous and dreaded criminal. Those who are questioning the police action should not engage in making such statements that would demoralise 3.5 lakh police personnel.”

Meanwhile, experts have said that criminals like Dubey are likely to have had political patronage across party lines. “This is indisputable that no one can raise and stay unharmed in the world of crime without political patronage. He had been active in crime for over two decades. Such people have political patronage across parties and have influence under every government whichever party rules. Political parties should introspect instead of trying to gain political capital out of it,” said Prof SK Dwivedi, a political analyst and the retired head of the department of political sciences, Lucknow University.