UP govt forms commission to probe Kanpur ambush, Vikas Dubey''s encounter

Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday set up one-member commission to probe into the gunning down of Vikas Dubey and his accomplices in police encounters and the ambush earlier in which the alleged gangster killed eight police personnel.

UP Governor Anandiben Patel appointed retired Allahabad High Court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal to conduct the probe under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 and submit a report within two months, according a government notification.

Uttar Pradesh police had claimed Friday that Dubey was killed when he tried to flee from police custody after a road accident near Kanpur while he was being brought back from Ujjain, where he was arrested a day earlier.

Five of his accomplice died in other firefights with police following the ambush by his henchmen in Bikru village near Kanpur July 2 night.

The one-man panel will be based in Kanpur.

It will also probe the gangster''s “relationship" with police and people from various departments, a government state said.

The commission will also suggest ways to prevent the repetition of this in future, it said.

A government spokesperson said the killing of eight policemen in the ambush on July 2 night by Vikas Dubey and his henchmen and the gangster''s encounter on July 10 are a "subject of public importance".

"Hence, their probe is essential," the spokesperson said.

He said the panel will also investigate "all encounters in the period from July 2-3 to 10", an apparent reference to gunning down of five alleged accomplices of Dubey as police tried to track down the alleged gangster.

Earlier, the Congress had demanded a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the entire episode to bring out the truth and identify those who had “granted protection” to Dubey.

"The Congress demanded that the unholy nexus between organised crime and the ilk of Vikas Dubey with those sitting in the echelons of power be probed by a sitting Supreme Court judge," party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said at a press conference.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too had demanded a judicial probe by a sitting SC judge.

On Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted a special investigation team to probe all aspects related to the slain gangster besides the alleged laxity and role of the local police.

Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy is heading the team, which will have Additional DG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud as its members, according to an official statement.

The SIT will submit its report by July 31 after looking into all the angles, studying all related documents and spot inspection in Kanpur, it said.

The team has been asked to probe what effective action was taken in all cases lodged against Dubey.