KANPUR ENCOUNTER: IG PROBES ‘LETTER’ ON DUBEY’S LINKS WITH COP

The announcement came on a day when a senior officer also pointed fingers at the then Kanpur SSP Anant Deo, now a DIG, to whom the letter was allegedly sent

LUCKNOW/KANPUR: Police on Tuesday said an Igp-rank officer is probing into a letter purportedly written weeks before his death by DSP Devendra Mishra, alleging a nexus between gangster Vikas Dubey and the now suspended Chaubeypur station officer. The announcement came on a day when a senior officer also pointed fingers at the then Kanpur SSP Anant Deo, now a DIG, to whom the letter was allegedly sent. Police said there was no record of the letter, which has surfaced on social media, at the SSP'S office or at other offices. But they added they will continue to investigate into the matter. Anant Deo, now a DIG, said that the signature on the letter does not match with that of the dead officer. The letter carried no serial number or date. In the letter supposedly written in March, Mishra accused Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari of watering down charges levelled in a case registered against the gangster.

Devendra Mishra was among the eight policemen killed in an ambush allegedly laid by Vikas Dubey at his Bikru village near Kanpur. Vinay Tiwari is one of the four Chaubeypur station policemen suspended after the attack, under suspicion of having tipped off Dubey that a police team was on its way to arrest him.

After being handed over the probe into the letter, Lucknow Range IG Lakshmi Singh reached the office of Circle Officer (Bilhaur), the post held by deputy superintendent of police Devendra Mishra.

The IG questioned the staff, checked records and computer data, said an official. She also seized a computer hard disk, pen drives and some documents, the official added.

Also on Tuesday, Inspector General (Civil Defence) Amitabh Thakur sought an inquiry into the alleged closeness between the then SSP Kanpur Nagar Anant Deo and Jai Bajpai, a frontman of gangster Dubey.

Thakur said in his letter to Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police H C Awasthy that several photos showing Anant

Deo and Jai Bajpai together have appeared.

Bajpai is said to have amassed a huge amount money in a very short span of time, the IG claimed.

It is said that despite a criminal history, Jai Bajpai was given a clean report by police in his passport verification," he alleged.

The details of his letter to the state police chief were revealed to the media by his activist-wife Nutan Thakur. Thakur said a close relationship between a man of dubious reputation and Anant Deo was a matter of great concern and needed to be probed.

He has also sought the removal of Deo from the Special Task Force, where he is now posted as Deputy Inspector General, while an inquiry is on. According to the purported letter circulating on social media, Mishra had written that Dubey was booked on charges of rioting, extortion and criminal intimidation in a case. But the charges were later diluted, it said.

"Showing sympathy to such a notorious criminal in such a way by the station officer and not taking any action brings the integrity of Vinay Tiwari into question," it said.

It added that there were reports about Tiwari visiting the gangster frequently. Mishra's alleged letter to the SSP said if the station officer does not change his style of functioning, a serious incident could occur.

In a related development, three more people including a close relative of gangster Dubey involved in the attack, a senior police officer said on Tuesday. According to the police, the total number of arrests in the case now stands at four. Dubey's relative Shama, his neighbour Suresh Verma, and maid Rekha were arrested in the case, an official police spokesperson said here. Rekha's husband, Daya Shankar Agnihotri, is a key member of the Dubey gang and was arrested in a predawn encounter in Kalyanpur on Sunday.

Agnihotri, who was involved in the ambush, was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 along with 17 others who continue to remain elusive.