Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, was arrested in Ujjain on Thursday. The arrest comes days after an inter-state operation was launched following a raid in which eight policemen were killed when they reached Dubey's house to arrest him.
Meanwhile, Dubey's two aides were killed in separate encounters in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, police said. While Kartikeya alias Prabhat was gunned down in Kanpur when he tried to flee from police custody, another aide of Vikas Dubey, Praveen alias Bauwa Dubey, was killed in an encounter in Etawah, they added.
Kartikeya, who was arrested from Faridabad on Wednesday, was being brought to Kanpur on transit remand when he snatched the pistol of a policeman and tried to flee, ADG, Law and Order Prashant Kumar said.
"The encounter took place in the Panki area of Kanpur when a police team was bringing Kartikeya alias Prabhat to Kanpur from Faridabad on transit remand. The police vehicle had a flat tyre. Taking advantage of the situation, Kartikeya tried to flee after snatching the pistol of a policeman," he said.
Kartikeya opened fire at the policemen accompanying him, injuring two Special Task Force (STF) personnel, and was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, the officer said. The policemen fired at him "in self-defence", he added.
Kartikeya was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead by the doctors, the ADG said. Kartikeya, Ankur and Shravan were arrested following a late-night encounter in Faridabad on Wednesday.