Kanpur encounter: How UP cops on mission to arrest gangster fell into trap

KANPUR: In one of the bloodiest encounters in Uttar Pradesh in four decades, eight policemen, including a circle officer of DSP rank and three sub-inspectors were killed in a midnight ambush by criminals in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur early Friday. Seven policemen suffered critical injuries in the fierce gun battle in Bikru village with gangster Vikas Dubey and his men. It took five hours for police to regroup and rush reinforcements before they combed the forests, 4km off the encounter site, to smoke out two members of Dubey’s gang. But the don with 60 cases against him, including the murder of a former BJP minister in 2001, remains elusive.

The deadly shootout draws parallel with the 1981 encounter with dreaded Chambal dacoit Chhabiram, when 11 policemen were killed in cold blood in Etah.
An hour after midnight on Friday, circle officer, Bilhaur, Devendra Kumar Mishra, led a police team to nab the gangster, Vikas Dubey, on a complaint of attempt to murder.
Under-siege cops retaliated, but overpowered
Police suspect the gangster was tipped off about the police movement and hammered out a guerrilla-style plan to lure, trap and kill the cops. When police arrived in Bikru village, a Brahmin stronghold, their vehicles hit a hurdle in the middle of dirt road. A mammoth earthmover was strategically placed, highmast lights atop an electric pole was smashed and Dubey’s armed snipers positioned themselves on rooftops of adjacent houses. When cops alighted from their vehicles to proceed towards the gangster’s fortified double-storied house, they were stopped in their tracks by a burst of gunfire.
The policemen retaliated, but found themselves outnumbered and under siege in the pitch darkness. With criminals enjoying vantage point atop rooftops, eight policemen quickly fell to bullets, including circle officer Devendra Mishra, who tried to storm into a neighbouring house to take position, but was dragged out and shot from point-blank range.
Others killed in the shootout included Shivrajpur police station in charge Mahesh Yadav and sub-inspectors Anup Kumar, Babu Lal and constables Sultan Singh, Rahul, Jitendra and Bablu. Seven others, including Bithoor police station in charge Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, sub-inspectors Sudhakar Pandey and Vikas Babu and constables, Ajay Singh Sengar, Ajay Kashyap, Shivmurat Nishad and homeguard, Jai Ram Patel, were critically injured and rushed to hospital. “It was a meticulously planned attack and the policemen walked into a trap,” said a senior police officer.
Police sources said, three police teams were involved in the operation. “When criminals opened indiscriminate fire, two teams were in the vanguard while the third was for backup. ADG, law and order, Prashant Kumar, confirmed to TOI that the attackers decamped with an AK-47, an INSAS rifle and two pistols after the shootout. “Two firearms were retrieved from two of the gang members who were later neutralized in the forests,” he said.
ADG Kumar along with SSP Dinesh Kumar Prabhu and IG Mohit Agarwal, rushed to the spot to supervise investigations. Officials said, borders of Kanpur division, comprising six districts, have been sealed. A forensic team from Lucknow has been roped in and the special task force (STF) handed over charge of the case.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath paid tributes to the eight police personnel, who died on duty and asked the director general of police (DGP) to take tough action. “The injured cops are being treated at Regency Hospital, Kanpur. Police from neighbouring districts of Kannauj and Kanpur Dehat have also been mobilised,” Kanpur ADG J N Singh said. Sources said, police station incharge of Kanpur was being questioned by Special Task Force for clues, which could possibly lead investigators to what exactly happened before the two sides exchanged fire.
In Video:Kanpur encounter: UP Police face their biggest challenge