Villagers recount harrowing tales of Dubey’s brutality

KANPUR: A man wept bitterly as the Special Investigation Team probing the July 3 ambush at Bikru village asked him for his statement about slain gangster Vikas Dubey.

Reluctant to speak at first, the Dalit villager burst into tears later as he recounted how his family and he were beaten up for hours about 15 years ago just because Dubey did not like the fact that they were wearing new clothes.

“Since then, none of us in the family have put on new clothes. We had to live here. Had we put on new clothes again, we would have been killed,” he said.

“We have not forgotten the worst kind of assault one could go through. I still do not believe he is dead,” said the villager who lives in a corner of Bikru village, supporting his family of six on a small piece of land.

In the last two days, the police have begun an outreach programme to restore the confidence of people in the village. During this exercise, tales of terror that the gangster unleashed have slowly emerged.

Most of the people still fear Vikas Dubey and his men and they prefer to remain silent.

The police held a panchayat at the village on Saturday to win public confidence but only two villagers appeared before circle officer, Sisamau, Tripurari Pandey.

One of them complained about how Vikas Dubey captured his new thresher and gave it to an accomplice.

When he showed purchase receipts to the police, his thresher was returned to him at the panchayat. Another villager alleged that Dubey had got a man to grab his land after measuring it.

The man, who had occupied the land, admitted his wrongdoing publicly at the panchayat and agreed to return the land. Police are initiating action against him. Pandey said the people feared the gangster to the point that whatever he decided was accepted meekly.

“We will hold the panchayats on a regular basis to win their trust and act against those who still instill fear in them,” he said.

Villagers told the police that Vikas Dubey used to hold court in the village and did not permit them to approach the police.