After killing of 8 cops, Uttar Pradesh Police guns down 2 close associates of gangster Vinod Dubey, hold up another 3

Eight policemen were shot dead and seven were critically injured when they went to arrest notorious criminal Vikas Dubey wanted in 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting.

Though the police was yet to confirm the identities of the encountered criminals but sources here said that one of them is the Vikas Dubey's brother- Atul,  and the other is his maternal uncle Prem Prakash.

Inspector General of Police(IG) Kanpur, Mohit Agawral said that the encounter took place just 4 kilometers away from the spot where the policemen were ambushed. A service pistol and an assault rifle looted from the police were also recovered from the possession of the killed criminals.

Police was holding up three more criminals in a nearby jungle where the encounter is underway.

The criminals attacked the policemen, who were on foot and went to arrest Vikas Dubey (52) a gangster said to have strong political connections, after he was charged in a fresh murder case.

State Director General of Police (DGP) HC Awasthi told UNI that senior officials were on the spot while STF has been engaged to nab the culprits.

He said that the incident occurred around after 0100 hrs. ADG (Law and Order) has been rushed to the spot along with IG STF. 

According to reports, the criminals had preplanned the ambush. They had blocked the road leading to the village, including a bulldozer.

The DGP further said that the criminals along with the accused fled from the village after the crime but a massive manhunt has been launched to nab them.

The martyred policemen include Circle officer (CO) Bilaur Devendra Mishra, SO Shivrajpur Mahesh Yadav, Chowki incharge Madhana Anup Kumar, Sub inspector Shivrajpur Nebulal and constables Sultan Singh of Choubeypur police station, Rahul, Jitendra and Bablu, all constables of Bithore police station.

The seven injured policemen were admitted to hospital where condition of three was stated to be critical.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his condolence and directed strict action against the criminals.

There are around 60 cases of murder and kidnapping pending on the criminal, including one in which he had killed a BJP leader and the then minister Santosh Shukla inside Shibli police station back in 2001.

Admitting police intelligence failure and lapse on part of the police team that raided the village, Mr Kumar said that on the directive of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he will send a report to the government about the incident.

Ten police teams, including a couple of STF, were engaged in tracing out the wanted criminal and his accomplices who escaped after killing the policemen.  It is learnt that the criminals could have fled to adjoining districts of Unnao or Farrukhabad, where an alert has been sounded.