Kanpur encounter live updates: Former senior cops outraged, call for inquiry into Dubey encounter

Hailing the police for gunning down gangster Vikas Dubey, who orchestrated the killing of eight policemen in Bikru village of Kanpur on July 2, the families of slain cops said justice has finally been done. The families thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for action and reposed their faith in the government. Kamalkant, relative of slain circle officer of Chaubeypur Devendra Mishra said those who gave patronage to Vikas Dubey should be brought to book. Residents of Mishra’s village also expressed satisfaction.

When Vikas Dubey made a surprise appearance at Ujjain’s Mahakaal temple on Thursday after six days of unbridled run covering five states, it was just the beginning of another action-packed day of political barbs, wild rumours and an encounter. It all started around 7.45am on Thursday when the fugitive don reached Mahakaal temple. He then bought a VIP ticket and stood in the queue of devotees for aarti and shot a selfie video. Soon after aarti, a private security guard “identified” him and informed Mahakaal police station.

Seven days after the Bikru village bloodbath in which eight policemen were ambushed and killed by Vikas Dubey and his henchmen, the 48-year-old gangster whose guile and brutality captured the imagination of the nation, was shot dead in an encounter with UP police on a highway in Kanpur, barely 22 km from his home turf, where he held kangaroo courts to deliver instant justice. Dubey was handed over to UP’s Special Task Force after his dramatic arrest from Mahakaal temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday and was being escorted back to Kanpur by an 18-member UP Police team. After a four-hour journey through the night in a police convoy comprising three escort vehicles, the unarmed gangster was gunned down when he allegedly snatched a gun from an STF commando and opened fire after their Mahindra TUV overturned while swerving past a buffalo herd amid pounding rain, police said.