Gangster Vikas Dubey never surrendered, had cut off leg of circle officer who went to nab him: UP Police tells Supreme Court

The Uttar Pradesh Police has informed the Supreme Court that Vikas Dubey had never surrendered, but was nabbed after a tip-off from the Madhya Pradesh Police.

It was stated that the encounter took place after Dubey opened fire at one of its police officials in an attempt to flee (Anoop Prakash Awasthi vs State of Uttar Pradesh & ors).

On July 14, the Supreme Court had sought a response from the State of Uttar Pradesh on the pleas seeking a probe into the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey. The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had also hinted at setting up a committee to look into the matter.

The UP Police, through its standing counsel Advocate Garima Prashad, has submitted that the state authorities have strictly worked in accordance with the law and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in PUCL v. Union of India in 2014. It was further averred that the authorities had also intimated the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) within 24 hours of the incident, “which clearly shows a lack of malafide”.

Substantiating reasons on why the encounter took place on July 10, the UP Police has stated that “motive of Dubey was to not only flee but also to kill the policemen and create terror in the mind of the people as well as the police”.

The police has categorically stated that Dubey did not surrender. On July 9, Dubey was identified by the Mahakal temple authorities in Ujjain. After police verified his identity, Dubey was taken to the police station, reads the affidavit.

The state police has also attempted to debunk the theory of Dubey being found to be travelling in two different cars. Police have submitted that Dubey had travelled from Ujjain to Guna in one vehicle and after Guna, he was taken by the investigating officer in a SUV. He was also being transferred from vehicle to vehicle to ensure security and alertness.

Rebutting further points made y the petitioners, UP Police states that no media vehicles were stopped. It in fact claims that “Aaj Tak and Republic TV had immediately reached the accident site and also reported the rain.”

There are several petitions filed on the issue, including the one by an Uttar Pradesh Police officer arrested for allegedly leaking information about a raid to nab gangster Vikas Dubey. Inspector KK Sharma has moved the Supreme Court seeking protection after the encounter killing of Dubey and his associates.

The reply of the state police maintains that there can be no comparison between the Hyderabad encounter case, as they were not hardened criminals unlike Dubey, who was facing eight murder cases and 10 attempt to murder case.

The police has stated that on July 2, when a police team went to the residence of Vikas Dubey, the gangster had brutally massacred eight policemen using 90 criminals of his gang . It is also claimed that he brutally cut the circle officer’s leg after shooting him dead and mutilated the bodies of policemen.

The UP Police has further claimed that bullet wounds were only on his back as he was facing the police from front and firing rounds.

“Police had fired six bullets compared to the reported four bullets from which only three hit the accused and the rest had missed the target,” reads the reply.

The current SIT formed by the Yogi Adityanath government is headed by UP Additional Chief Secretary, Sanjay Bhoosreddy. Other members of the SIT are Hari Ram Sharma and J Ravinder Gaur, both IPS officers. The SIT has been directed to submit a report to the state government before July 31.