Ex-HC judge to probe ambush, Dubey’s death
LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday constituted a one-member commission to probe the Kanpur ambush that killed eight policemen and the encounter in which Vikas Dubey was shot dead by police personnel, in what they say was an act of self defence while the gangster tried to escape custody while in transit.
The decision comes amid experts and former police officials pointing out that there are several unanswered questions about the manner in which the encounter took place.
UP governor Anandiben Patel on Sunday appointed retired Allahabad high court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal to probe the incidents and submit a report within two months, according to a government notification.
Any change in its tenure shall be at the behest of the government, the order said.
The panel was set up under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952 and it will be based in Kanpur. The statement also said the commission will probe the gangster’s “relationship” with police and other officials, and suggest ways to prevent such a repetition in future. Dubey and his gang members are believed to have been alerted by some police officials about an impending raid in Bikru village of Kanpur Dehat on July 3, allowing them to prepare for the pre-dawn ambush in which eight Uttar Pradesh police personnel including the deputy superintendent of police were killed.
On Sunday, a police officer -who was suspended and arrested for his alleged role in passing on crucial information to Dubey -has moved the Supreme Court seeking protection in the wake of encounters in which the gangster and his aides have been killed in recent days.
The plea, filed through his wife Vinita Sirohi, contended that her husband Krishn Kumar Sharma may be eliminated through “illegal and unconstitutional means”. Sub-inspector Sharma and three other officials were suspended on July 5. Filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the petition also alleged that death of one of the accused -- Amar Dubey -- in an encounter in Maudaha in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh took place under “suspicious circumstances”.
At least five members of Dubey’s gang have been gunned down in separate encounters since the ambush. Dubey was killed on Friday after a police vehicle carrying him from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain to Kanpur allegedly overturned in an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area.
A government spokesperson on Sunday the committee was formed as the ambush and the gangster’s death are subjects of “public importance”.
“Hence, their probe is essential,” the spokesperson said, adding that the panel will also investigate “all encounters in the period from July 2-3 to 10” – the period between the ambush and Dubey’s death.
Opposition parties including the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party had earlier demanded a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the sequence of events, saying that Dubey’s death appeared to be cover-up to protect the “crime- politics nexus”. On Saturday, the UP government had constituted a special investigation team to probe all aspects related to the slain gangster besides the alleged laxity and role of the local police. Additional chief secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy is heading the team, which also comprises additional DG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud as its members, according to an official statement. The SIT will submit its report by July 31.