Gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in the early hours of Friday in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police. While on his way to Kanpur, Dubey was shot dead after he attempted to flee. The vehicle he was in had overturned on an isolated stretch of the road, and Dubey reportedly took the opportunity to commandeer one of the official's firearm and tried to escape.
He was shot dead in retaliatory fire by the police officials. As per the official account, six policemen, including two from the Special task Force, were hurt in the accident and the exchange of fire around 6 am.
Here's what the Uttar Pradesh police had to say:
Notorious goon Vikas Dubey was being brought to Uttar Pradesh via STF Lucknow, UP, under the supervision of Police Superintendent Tejbahadur Singh.
During the journey, a few kilometers before Kanpur, close to Kanhaiyalal Hospital, Sachendi Police Station, a herd of buffaloes wandered onto the road. The vehicle overturned when the driver, tired from the long journey, suddenly turned his vehicle to avoid an hitting these animals. Due to this sudden incident, the police officers/personnel sitting in this vehicle (Inspectors Ramakant Pachauri, Pankaj Singh and Anoop Singh, and bodyguards Satyaveer and Pradeep Kumar) suffered serious injuries and went into a semi-conscious state.
Vikas Dubey suddenly took advantage of this situation and grabbed the pistol of injured Inspector Ramakant Pachauri, and fled from the accident-affected government vehicle. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was sitting in another government vehicle, that was behind the affected car, and police official Tej Bahadur Singh and others were told that Dubey had taken off when they went near the damaged vehicle.
Taking advantage of the circumstances of the road accident, Vikas had snatched Ramakant's government pistol. He ran away onto the dirt road.
Upon receiving this information, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF UP, after giving necessary instructions to the concerned for the treatment of the injured policemen, immediately pursued the absconding criminal Vikas Dubey.
With the intention of killing the police personnel, Vikas Dubey started firing from the pistol that he had snatched. In order to make a full effort to catch the accused alive, police officials came close to him. But Vikas Dubey started firing with more ferocity. Left with no option, the police team also returned controlled fire in the line of self-defense and duty. In this, the accused Vikas Dubey got injured. After immediate first aid, he was taken by the police to a government hospital where he was declared dead post-trial by the doctors.
In the firing done by Vikas Dubey, Shivendra Singh Sengar and constable Vimal Yadav were injured. They are undergoing treatment.
The comments have been met with skepticism from many quarters.
Many content that there are several unanswered questions that remain still. On social media platforms such as Twitter, many others busied themselves cracking jokes about the incident and the Police statements.
Others, including opposition parties have criticised the encounter, calling it suspect.
