Less than 24 hours after he was arrested and a week after he killed 8 police officials in an ambush, wanted gangster Vikas Dubey was shot dead by Uttar Pradesh police along Kanpur-Jhansi Highway in an encounter on July 10.

UP Police claim Vikas was shot dead after he attempted to flee from the custody of the cops. In a detailed statement, Police revealed that a herd of cows appeared in front of the convoy while they were travelling on a service road along the Jhansi-Kanpur Highway at Bhaunti, Vikas Dubey’s car turned turtle following which he tried to flee from the scene.

Whilst trying to escape, Vikas had reportedly snatched a service pistol from a cop who was accompanying him. Cops asked Vikas to surrender, however the negotiations failed after Vikas opened fire. Police say they were left with no choice following which they shot Vikas in ‘self-defence’. 4 Police personnel and 2 STF Commandos were also injured in the encounter.

The encounter has however snowballed into a major political slugfest. Opposition has questioned Yogi Adityanath headed BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party have sought Supreme Court-monitored probe into the incident.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lead Congress’ blistering charge and demanded CBI to investigate the case. Meanwhile former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said that the car was toppled to save the government from collapsing.

Killed to Avenge July 3 Ambush?

On July 3rd, 8 Kanpur Police officials were killed in an ambush while they went to Dubey’s house in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur. The gangster was on the run for over a week before he was spotted in Faridabad on July 7th. He later surfaced in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain.

Many are now drawing parallels between the Cyberabad Encounter and this incident. The encounter however raises concerns over subversion of judiciary by the police apparatus.

The July 3 encounter and the subsequent fallout exposes the collective failure of the UP Police, now this incident only proves that this was an attempt to placate anger within the system over the killing of 8 policemen.