The Ujjain police on Thursday arrested criminal Vikas Dubey as he was visiting the Mahakal temple in the city.
While there are contrasting reports regarding how he was arrested, a video of Dubey announcing his arrest has gone viral. In the video, Dubey, who is being taken away by police personnel, is heard saying, "Vikas Dubey Kanpur wala hoon."
Watch the video here
Dubey's arrest comes on the same day two of his aides were allegedly killed in separate encounters. One of those who was killed was his partner Ranbir Shukla, while the other was identified as Prabhat Mishra.
On July 3, 2020, at least eight police officers were killed in an encounter Dubey and his henchmen.
Acting on a tip-off from two police officers, who were subsequently arrested, Dubey and his men waited as the police officials came to arrest them, without the slightest knowledge that they were walking into a death trap.
As the police team was about to reach the hideout of the dreaded criminal, a hail of bullets was showered on them from a building rooftop, leaving Deputy SP Devendra Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables dead, officials said. Giving details of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police H C Awasthi said the notorious criminal might have got an inkling of the impending raid.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Dubey was tipped off by members of the police force. "As per evidence, it has been found that police personnel Vinay Tiwari and KK Sharma had informed Vikas Dubey about the raid beforehand. So, he was on alert and planned to attack police which resulted in the death of 8 policemen," SSP Kanpur Dinesh Prabhu told ANI.
The two have now been arrested. Tiwari had been the former Station Officer of Chaubepur Police Station that has jurisdiction over the gangster's village. Reportedly, he had watered down charges against Dubey in previous cases.
IG of Kanpur Range, Mohit Agarwal said that Tiwari and Beat in-charge KK Sharma had been present during the encounter, but had fled the site of the incident during the operation.
Dubey then escaped to Faridabad and from there travelled to Ujjain after CCTV footage showed him at a hotel in the Haryana city.
