Vikas Dubey Encounter: 5 Unanswered Questions Around His Death

From mediapersons being stopped to Dubey allegedly making an attempt to flee – is Dubey’s death indeed an encounter?

UP gangster Vikas Dubey is the prime accused in the encounter and ambush in Kanpur that left 8 cops dead last week.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Vikas Dubey’s alleged encounter on the morning of 10 July, ending a week-long search operation that began with the deadly shoot-out at his residence on 3 July, raises several questions.

1. Why were mediapersons, who were following the convoy that was bringing Vikas Dubey back, stopped by the police? Around 6:30 am, about half an hour before the encounter, one can see that the police placed barricades and disallowed mediapersons from moving ahead. Why was this done?

2. The second query is regarding the car in which Vikas Dubey was travelling. A video of three cars crossing a toll booth around 4:00 am shows that Dubey was in a different car, not the one that is seen tipped after the accident on the highway.

3. Why was Dubey not restrained effectively while being brought to UP by the UP Special Task Force? He was able to leave UP after the shoot-out of 3 July, a week after which the Madhya Pradesh police nabbed him from Ujjain, and then Uttar Pradesh’s STF was sent to bring him back. How is it that they were not able to bring him back safely?

While the exact circumstances of his death are still being discovered, what is unclear is how Dubey, despite a limp in his leg, was allegedly able to snatch a gun from an injured cop (after the car tipped in an alleged accident) and allegedly make an attempt to flee. How could this be a possibility at all?

Dubey gained notoriety over the years, with alleged links to political parties and politicians and 60 cases against him.

He stood accused of plotting murders while in prison, including the murder of his cousin, Anurag. As recent as 3 July, Dubey and his men were involved in a shoot-out where eight UP policemen were killed.

How is it then that ensuring the safe and effective restraint of Dubey was not prioritised? Why did this slip happen at all?

4. The fourth query is regarding how, in very similar circumstances, Vikas Dubey’s aide Prabhat Mishra was encountered a day before on 9 July. ADG Kanpur had told ANI that, “He took advantage of the situation, snatched a pistol from a policeman, fired at our men and tried to escape. Our personnel retaliated, during which Prabhat got killed. Several policemen were injured in the incident.” Now when something so similar had happened a day before, why would the UP Police not be more careful in ensuring a similar incident doesn’t play out again?

5. Finally, was the police trying to put an end to the cycle of crime or just the criminal? Vikas Dubey did not become a gangster overnight, it is an open secret that he was provided protection by policemen and politicians. His interrogation would have further unearthed his links to the police and political parties. Now that he has been killed, how can one get to the bottom of this?