Dubey aide Arvind Trivedi remanded in judicial custody, will be taken to UP for interrogation

Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Sunday produced Arvind Ramvilas Trivedi, an associate of slain gangster Vikas Dubey and Trivedi’s driver Sushilkumar Suresh

Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Sunday produced Arvind Ramvilas Trivedi, an associate of slain gangster Vikas Dubey and Trivedi’s driver Sushilkumar Suresh Tiwari in Thane court. Both were sent to judicial custody till July 21.

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ATS officers said the Uttar Pradesh police are on the way to Mumbai to take them to Kanpur to investigate their involvement in the killing of eight policemen by Dubey and his associates.

ATS official said Trivedi and his driver fled from UP soon after the killing of eight policemen at Bikru village near Kanpur, in the intervening night of July 2 and 3, by Dubey and his associates. “Both came to Madhya Pradesh and from there they came to Pune hiding in a truck. After that they changed the vehicle and took another truck to Kolshet in Thane” said ATS official.

“The Juhu unit of the ATS received a tip-off regarding Trivedi alias Guddan. The Juhu unit under the guidance of superiors laid a trap at Kolshet road, Thane and nabbed the wanted accused Arvind Ramvilas Trivedi and his driver,” ATS officers said in their statement.

Dubey, who was a history-sheeter and has approximately 60 criminal cases against him, absconded and was ultimately arrested in Ujjain on July 9. He was killed in an encounter on July 10, while being brought back to Kanpur by UP Police.

Trivedi is suspected of being involved in the murder of UP state minister Santosh Shukla, who was killed inside Shivli police station in Kanpur, in 2001. Dubey was the main accused in the case, which saw 25 policemen, brought in as eyewitnesses to the murder, turn hostile in court. UP state government had announced a reward of ₹50,000 in exchange for information on Trivedi’s whereabouts.

Following Trivedi’s arrest, UP Police issued a press statement confirming that Trivedi was an associate of Dubey. “Following the arrest made by Maharashtra ATS, it has come to light that Arvind Trivedi is an old member of Vikas Dubey’s gang. Investigations are being conducted to ascertain if he was involved in the incident at Bikru village. Arvind has not been named in the FIR,” said UP Police.