Dubey aide arrested in Kanpur gunbattle
Accused was present during Kanpur ambush
Lucknow/Kanpur, July 5: The main aide of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kanpur, a senior police official said on Sunday.
The aide, Dayashankar Agnihotri, was injured in his leg in retaliatory firing by police after he tried to attack them and flee, the official said, adding that no police personnel was hurt.
The police has also taken into custody the sub-divisional officer (SDO) and another employee of the power sub-station from where electricity supply was interrupted on the intervening night of ThursdayFriday at the time of the police raid at Dubey’s house in Bikru village.
Police also questioned the man responsible for disconnecting the power supply, a senior police official said, adding that the man confessed to having snapped the power lines on instructions of a caller who claimed that he was calling from the nearby Chaubeypur police station in Kanpur district.
According to sources, the phone number from which the line worker was contacted belongs to the Chaubeypur police station.
Lucknow/Kanpur, July 5: The main aide of gangster Vikas Dubey involved in the attack in which eight police personnel were killed was arrested in a pre-dawn encounter in Kanpur, a senior police official said on Sunday.
The officer also said the cash reward announced by the police on Dubey’s arrest has been increased to `1 lakh.
"Dayashankar Agnihotri alias Kallu, the main aide of Dubey, has been arrested during an encounter. Agnihotri always used to accompany Dubey and was staying at Dubey's house (which was demolished Saturday),” inspector general, Kanpur Range, Mohit Agarwal said.
“Agnihotri was carrying a cash reward of `25,000. He was named accused in the firing incident on the policemen. In the encounter, he got bullet injuries on his leg," Agarwal said. Additional director general of Police, Kanpur, J.N. Singh told PTIthat the encounter took place at around 4.30 am in Kalyanpur area of Kanpur.
Agnihotri was admitted to the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital and police
recovered a country-made pistol and two cartridges from his possession, said superintendent of police (west) Anil Kumar.
Agnihotri told reporters that Dubey had got a call from someone in the police department informing him about his imminent arrest, and after that he called his men for a face-to-face confrontation with the police.
Allegations had earlier surfaced against Vinay Tiwari, station officer (SO) of Chaubeypur police station in Kanpur district in whose jurisdiction the incident took place, for alerting Dubey that a police team was moving towards his house to arrest him, following which the gangster and his men attacked the police personnel resulting in the slaying of eight of them. The SO was suspended on
Saturday. In the early hours of Sunday, police got a tip-off and tried to stop Agnihotri on the Kalyanpur-Shivli road when he opened fire on them. While no police personnel was hurt, Agnihotri got bullet injuries on his leg in retaliatory firing. Meanwhile, IG Agarwal said, “The cash reward on Vikas Dubey has been increased to `1 lakh from Rs 25,000”.
When asked about the action being taken against suspended SO Tiwari,
Mr Agarwal said, “He (Vinay Tiwari) has been sent to Police Lines. He has not been detained. Investigations are going on. If any evidence is found which suggests that Tiwari was part of the conspiracy, then he will be detained.”
On the demolition by police of Dubey’s house on Saturday, the IG said, “Police had information that Dubey had hidden a lot of arms and ammunition in a bunker. There was also information about him hiding arms and ammunition in the walls of the house. The walls were broken in order to search for the weapons.