When Vikas Dubey shot Rajnath Singh's minister and walked free

When Vikas Dubey shot Rajnath Singh's minister and walked free

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Saturday, July 11, 2020, 12:32 AM IST
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When Vikas Dubey shot Rajnath Singh's minister and walked free | PTI

On November 11, 2001, when Rajnath Singh who is now Union Defence Minister, was the CM of Uttar Pradesh back then, Dubey along with his 7 henchmen armed with rifles and country-made pistols allegedly accosted BJP leader Santosh Shukla who was a minister in Singh's cabinet and shot him dead, reported India Today.

The incident allegedly happened in broad daylight after an argument with the men. Shukla was being chased and he even ran for his life to Shivli police station. But what's surprising is that Dubey chased Shukla all the way inside the police station and shot him dead in the presence of 25 policemen. He later walked away.

Well, a year after the incident, Dubey surrendered before the police but was released on bail. But during his trial, witnesses including the policemen did not put forth any evidence and hence Dubey was acquitted by the court.

PTI reported that an official said that he was the prime accused in the murder of BJP leader Santosh Shukla inside the Shivli police station here in 2001. "Dubey had instilled so much fear in everyone that even after being accused of murdering a BJP leader having the status of minister of state, not even a single police officer gave a statement against him," alleged the official who did not want to be named. "No evidence was put before the court and he was acquitted for lack of evidence," the official said.

He claimed that Dubey used to plot and execute crimes, including murder, from inside the jail.

Now, two decades later, Gangster Vikas Dubey met with a gory end in an encounter with the UP STFon Friday.

Last Friday, Dubey, who was around 50-years-old, hogged the headlines after his henchmen allegedly shot dead eight police personnel in a botched raid that he had converted into an ambush.

An old photo on social media showed him at an event next to an Uttar Pradesh minister, who switched parties to join the ruling BJP. The Congress claimed this showed his political patronage.

Another picture showed a poster of him appealing for votes for his wife, Richa Dubey, in a zila panchayat election which she won from Ghimau under which Bikru village falls. The poster also carried pictures of two leaders now in the opposition, implying that she had their support. In 2000, Dubey himself won the Shivrajpur seat in a zila panchayat poll he fought from prison, where he was lodged after a murder charge, according to officials.

After being on the run for nearly a week, during which he was said to have taken refuge in a hotel in Faridabad on Delhi's outskirts, Dubey was picked up from the holy city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Thursday, "Dubey arrived at the (Mahakal) temple in his car. A police constable identified him first, after which three others (security personnel) were alerted and he was taken aside for questioning and later arrested." However, temple sources gave a slightly different account. They said Dubey reached the temple gate in the morning and purchased a Rs 250 ticket from a counter near the police post. When he went to a nearby shop to buy prasad for the deity, the shop owner identified him and alerted police, they added.

When policemen asked him his name, he loudly said, "I am Vikas Dubey of Kanpur ", following which the cops and private security personnel deployed at the temple nabbed him.

The MP police then handed him over to the UP police. When he was being brought to the state, the police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain overturned at Bhauti area in Kanpur on Friday morning, police claimed.

Inspector-General of Police (Kanpur) Mohit Agarwal said Dubey tried to flee from the spot after snatching the pistol of a inspector leading to an encounter.

Dubey shot into limelight last Friday when his henchmen ambushed UP policemen who had gone to Bikru village to arrest him in a new case of attempted murder. Officials said the road was blocked by heavy earthmoving equipment and when policemen stepped out of their vehicles, they faced a hail of bullets, and eight of them were killed.

Since then, the UP police have shot dead five of Dubey's alleged accomplices. Police claimed that Dubey was involved in about 60 cases. But details obtained from officials indicate that he was not convicted even in cases like murder.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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