Dubey was caught outside a temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on early Thursday morning.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday asked the BJP government to clarify whether Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur, was arrested or whether he had surrendered. The party also demanded the call-detail record of Dubey’s cellphone be made public.
Dubey was caught outside a temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on early Thursday morning.
“The news is coming that the main accused in the Kanpur case is in police custody. If this is true, the government should clarify whether it was a surrender or an arrest. Besides, the CDR (call-detail record) should be made public so that those hand in glove with him could be exposed,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.
The SP chief had on Wednesday targeted the state government for failing to arrest Dubey and had alleged of a nexus between the BJP and the criminals. He had alleged that that probe in the Kanpur raid case has been given to an officer who is under scanner.
Meanwhile, Dubey’s mother Sarla Devi said that her son is currently with the SP, a claim denied by the party.
Asked what should be done by the government after her son’s arrest, Sarla Devi said, “The government should do whatever it feels appropriate (Sarkar jo uchit samjhe, woh kare).” “At this time, he (Vikas Dubey) is not in the BJP. He is with the SP,” she said.
A spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party said, “Vikas is not a member of our party. Strict action should be taken against him.”
Earlier, in a 2017 video circulated on social media, Dubey, who has 60 criminal cases against him, is heard claiming that two BJP MLAs helped him in the past.
Earlier, BJP leaders had shared photographs of Vikas Dubey and his associates with leaders of Samajwadi Party, alleging that the Samajwadi Party had links with the accused.
“The wife of criminal Vikas Dubey had taken lifetime membership of Samajwadi Party and contested the Zila Panchayat elections in 2015 as the official candidate of Samajwadi Party. There are photographs of his gang members with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav,” BJP spokesperson Harish Srivastava said on Wednesday.
The Samajwadi Party rejected the charges levelled by the BJP, calling them “false and baseless”.
—With PTI Inputs