Vikas Dubey ‘Encounter’ Leaves Behind Several Unanswered Questions

Vikas Dubey’s encounter gives way to unanswered questions especially surrounding the circumstances of the incident.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan & Mohd. Ibrahim

On the morning of 10 July, at around 6:30 am, police stopped the media on the national highway along Sachendi suburb in Kanpur. In fact, police vans were parked in front of trucks.

After this, word got out that one of UP STF’s vehicles had toppled over in an accident. This car was from the same convoy of vehicles that was tasked with bringing Vikas Dubey, from MP's Ujjain to Kanpur. The situation got tense.

Meanwhile, screens of all news channels flashed:

‘Breaking News: Gangster Vikas Dubey killed in an encounter.'

But, Dubey’s story doesn’t end here. Many questions still remain unanswered.

This was the same Vikas Dubey who was the prime accused in the killing of eight UP policemen in a shoot-out in Kanpur on 3 July. This was the same Vikas Dubey who had been giving the police the slip for the past six days. He had managed to move from UP  to Delhi and finally reached Ujjain via Faridabad, where he was caught.

During the arrest, he kept shouting:

'I am the Vikas Dubey of Kanpur.'

The police say that, after the accident, Dubey got hold of their firearm and attempted to escape. When he was asked to surrender, he allegedly opened fire. Only then, did the police 'retaliate'.

After being shot, Dubey was taken to the Hallett hospital in Kanpur, where he is said to have succumbed to his wounds. A few policemen were also injured.

Before Dubey, five of his aides – Amar Dubey, Baua Dubey, Prabhat Mishra, Prem Prakash Pandey and Atul Dubey – were also killed in police encounters.

That amounts to six killed in encounters in last seven days.

Many questions are now being raised about the 'encounter' as Dubey was expected to uncover a deeper nexus involving big names, since he is said to be connected to important politicians and police officials.

His connections are also how he successfully executed crimes like murder and ransom for 20 years without getting caught.

This raises some pertinent questions:

Who were the police officers and politicians protecting Vikas Dubey?

Was UP cop Vinay Tiwary his only informant?

Or were bigger names involved? Dubey could also have revealed information about the other mafias and gangs he worked with. But now, he has been silenced forever. Will we ever find answers to these questions?

There are more questions like, how did Dubey snatch a police weapon? Was such a dangerous criminal not handcuffed? Dubey had a mobility issue in one of his legs. Supposedly, because of gangrene. Was he strong and physically capable enough to escape after the car accident?

How did he single-handedly manage to overpower the cops and snatch their firearms?

What does this say about UP Police’s aptitude? First, Dubey’s henchman Prabhat Mishra attempts to escape after snatching police weapons and now Dubey himself. In Mishra's case, the police vehicle had a puncture, and with Vikas, the car toppled over.

Can’t the UP Police personnel keep their firearms safe?

Why did Dubey not get caught for so many years? Then, UP police failed to catch him during the 3 July confrontation.

Finally, he was caught by MP Police although that is questionable as well. When they were given the responsibility to bring Vikas back from MP to UP, there also, they failed. They couldn’t even bring him into custody.