Dubey encounter case: Probe panel gives clean chit to police

Lucknow: A three-member commission probing the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey has given a clean chit to police, stating their version of events about his death were supported by evidence.

The commission said that Kanpur ambush in which eight cops were killed occurred because of "poor planning" by the police as it did not assess the situation correctly and there was

"total failure" of Kanpur local intelligence.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna tabled the report in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday.

"The evidence adduced in the (Dubey encounter) case supports police's version of the incident. The injuries suffered by policemen could not be self-inflicted or fabricated. Dr RS Mishra, who was on the panel of doctors, conducted the post-mortem and clarified that the injuries found on his person

(Dubey) could be caused as per the version of police," the report said.

"Nobody came forward from the public and media to controvert the police version and no evidence is filed in rebuttal. Richa Dubey, wife of Vikas, filed an affidavit calling the incident a fake encounter but she did not appear before the commission," it said, adding that in such eventuality, no suspicion or doubt arises about the police's version of the incident.

A magisterial inquiry conducted by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kanpur Nagar has a similar finding.

Eight police personnel, including deputy superintendent of police, were killed during a raid on Dubey's house at Bikru village

in Kanpur district 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 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 commission said there is "sufficient material on record" to show that Vikas Dubey and his gang were patronised by the local

police, revenue and administrative officials.

Meanwhile, BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra on Friday questioned the clean chit to police in the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey, saying the matter will be looked into again if his party forms the government in the state next year.

Dubey was killed in an encounter last year when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he allegedly tried to escape.