THE UTTAR PRADESH GOVERNMENT CONSTITUTES A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM TO INVESTIGATE THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY VIKAS DUBEY

THE UTTAR PRADESH GOVERNMENT CONSTITUTES A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM TO INVESTIGATE THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY VIKAS DUBEY

-Richa Singh

Vikas Dubey was a history-sheeter based in Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh. By this year he had over 60 criminal cases pending against him since the 1990s. His name had been connected with the murder of a Minister of State and he was the main accused in the recent incident where eight police officers were killed and several got injured when they had gone to his residence near Kanpur.

After his arrest in Ujjain, he was handed over to the UP Police and was on his way to Kanpur. As per the Kanpur Police, a herd of cattle suddenly came on the road and the driver of the vehicle,  in which they were sitting, lost his control which resulted in the accident. After the accident, the gangster was trying to flee snatching the gun of a police officer after which he was shot dead in retaliation. Then he was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors. The encounter has raised several questions on the authority of the Police and certain sections have started examining the death as it is alleged to be a fake encounter by the UP Police.

After the encounter, an advocate had moved to the Allahabad High Court demanding a CBI investigation in the Kanpur matter and alleged that a staged extra-judicial encounter was carried out by the UP Police in Dubey’s case.

After facing severe criticisms, the Yogi Adityanath Government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct an investigation into the criminal activities carried out by Dubey and what role was played by the authorities to put a stop to the same.

The team will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhasureddy along with two IPS officers named Hariram Sharma and Ravindra Gaur. The SIT has been asked to submit its report by July 31 after looking into all the angles related to the case.

The team will inquire into the role played by the authorities in taking effective actions against the gangster and his associates for the complaints pending against him. The steps taken for the cancellation of bail of a person having such a detailed criminal background by the officials will also be inquired. How did he manage to get weapon licenses cleared despite being involved in so many criminal offenses will be an important issue for the team to investigate. The number of complaints received and the action taken by the Police against him under the Gangster Act, the NSA, etc. will also be looked into by the SIT. The data regarding the Police officials who were in contact with Dubey for the past one year and other related shreds of evidence will be collected. The UP Government has asked the SIT to make inquiries about the trail of property, businesses and other economic activities that were illegally acquired by him and to look into the inactive action of local police or involvement in the same. The team has also been asked to probe why the Police were not able to collect information regarding the availability of weapons at his home.

The Congress leaders have demanded a monitored probe into all the viewpoints of the case including the political nexus of Dubey.

The incident has started a debate all over the country and several questions have been raised before the Courts on the issue. A thorough investigation monitored by the Supreme Court has been demanded in the Kanpur Chapter.