Seven days after the Bikru village bloodbath in which eight policemen of Uttar Pradesh were ambushed and killed by the infamous ‘Kanpurwala’ mafia Vikas Dubey and his henchmen, the 48 years old gangster was shot
dead in an encounter. He was being escorted by an eighteen member UP Police team from Ujjain. As per the Police, in a police convoy comprising three police vehicles, Dubey snatched a pistol from one of the four injured policemen and open fired them, after that their Mahindra TUV overturned while swerving past a buffalo herd amidst pounding rain, he got shot in the crossfire. He was brought to the Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Encounter History
Vikas dubey is the 119th accused to have been killed in an encounter since Yogi Adityanath government took charge in march 2017. In January last year, Supreme Court has termed encounters in Uttar Pradesh as a ‘‘very serious issue.’’ but the State Government has always stated the numbers of encounter as its biggest achievement.
According to the records 6,145 encounters have been held in which 119 accused have died and 2,258 others injured. Total 13 policemen have lost their lives including the eight killed in Kanpur last week and 885 policemen were injured.
The state government has got at least three notices since 2017 from the National Human Rights Commission and the government has filed a common response to all those notices defending its actions.
In year 2014, People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. State of
Maharashtra, the Supreme Court had issued guidelines in such police operations. The court had said that ‘‘Magisterial inquiry must be held in all cases of death which occur in the course of Police Action. The next kin of the deceased must invariably be associated in such inquiry.
In every case when a complaint is made against the police alleging commission of a criminal act on their part which makes out a cognizable case of culpable homicide, an FIR to this effect must be registered under appropriate sections of the IPC.’’
Then CJI RM Lodha and Justice R.F Nariman had mentioned that the inquiry must show ‘‘whether use of force was justified and action taken was lawful.’’
Following the ruling of the SC, in Uttar Pradesh, Magisterial inquiries have been completed in 74 encounter cases and surprisingly police got clean chit in all.
A cover-up encounter?
The loopholes in the theory of Police of india’s biggest state have raised many questions.
1) Why was UP police bringing Vikas Dubey from Ujjain to Kanpur by road and without transit remand from the Ujjain Court?
2) Why Vikas Dubey was not handcuffed enroute?
3) Why TV crews chasing the police cavalcade from the Ujjain were
prevented just 15 minutes before the Encounter?
4) According to the cctv footage Dubey was spotted travelling in different vehicle but police claimed that he was in the car which overturned during the cross firing.
Opposition parties have termed it a pre-planned killing and an attempt to save the Government from being exposed by the connection with the wanted deceased. Samajwadi Party head and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the encounter was staged to save the Yogi Adityanath government from toppling, the call details of Vikas Dubey of past five years should be made public. He also denied any
connection of the deceased gangster and his wife from his party, as was alleged by the some BJP leaders. BSP chief Mayawati and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe into the killing.
Eduindex News 