Vikas Dubey, wanted for the murder of eight Uttar Pradesh policemen at Bikhru village in Kanpur on the intervening night of July 2-3, continued to give the slip on Wednesday amid arrests and killings of alleged aides.
The police said the gangster surfaced in Faridabad on Tuesday, hiding at the house of his distant relatives, father-son duo Shravan Mishra and Ankur Mishra, but slipped away a few hours before the place was raided. Dubey also went to a hotel in Badkhal area to rent a room but left when hotel staff insisted on identity proof, said Faridabad police spokesperson Sube Singh.
Speculation over his possible surrender at a court in the national capital led Delhi Police to beef up security on court premises on Wednesday. “Several teams of Delhi Police’s Special Cell and Crime Branch are working to trace local contacts of Vikas. They have put several mobile numbers on surveillance. We are also screening for any old associate of his lodged in Delhi jails,” said a senior police officer.
The officer said police in Faridabad, U.P. and Delhi were sharing information related to Dubey and all police stations have been alerted. “We have deployed police personnel in and around courts to arrest Vikas. We have ordered extensive checking at U.P. and Haryana borders. Police have been ordered to check every car crossing the border. The network of informers has been alerted,” the officer said.
Noida abuzz
By evening, there were conflicting reports of his presence in Gautam Buddha Nagar after he fled from Faridabad, and Noida’s Film City was abuzz with speculation that the gangster has contacted a television news channel and might surrender during a live show. “We barricaded all entry points to Film City and an extensive search operation was conducted. We have deployed police personnel in plain clothes at the office of the media house to nab the gangster,” said a senior Noida police officer.
However, Sankalp Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, denied there was any “specific input” in this regard. “We have increased security in Sector 16 A [where Film City is situated] but there is no information about his presence in Film City,” he said. Sriparna Goungulee, Additional Commissioner of Police, said the entire district was on alert, particularly the border areas. Security was also increased in the district court, she said.
In police net
While Dubey remained elusive, his alleged close aide Kartikeya alias Prabhat was arrested on Tuesday by the Faridabad police along with Shravan and Ankur.
Prabhat purportedly told the police during interrogation that he was involved in the attack at Bikhru village and that he and Dubey fled the spot taking two pistols and cartridges of the injured policemen with them. On the run, the two stayed at the house of a friend in Shivali, U.P., for two days.
Prabhat has been handed over to the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force by the Faridabad court on transit remand.
The trio was arrested by three crime units of Faridabad Police at New Indira Nagar Complex, Hari Nagar in Nahar Par area after a brief encounter. The accused allegedly opened fire on the raiding team and tried to escape, but were overpowered.
(With inputs from Anuj Kumar)
