Vikas Dubey encounter: Gloom descends on Bikru, but next-door Shivli exults

KANPUR: Ground Zero Bikru village, witness to the midnight bloodbath in which eight policemen were killed, plunged into mourning when news trickled in about the gangster’s death in a police encounter. And the don’s widow, Richa, expressed the angst of the predominantly Brahmin hamlet when she vowed revenge during her husband’s last rites at Bhairavghat on banks of the Ganga in Kanpur.
“Now, I will pick up the gun. You people defamed my husband and now you ask if the encounter was fake,” she screamed at reporters. Police had fortified the route to the cremation ghat after Dubey’s body was handed over to his family.
While gloom descended on Bikru, neighbouring Shivli, another village dominated by Brahmins, burst into celebration, clearing showing that caste is not a glue when terror is the key. Brother of Santosh Shukla, the BJP minister who was shot by Dubey inside Shivli police station 19 years ago told TOI, “My brother’s soul will now rest in peace. Justice has finally been delivered.”
Former chairman of Shivli Nagar Palika Lallan Bajpayee said people in Shivli area have been living under terror unleashed by Vikas Dubey and his men for decades. Several people belonging to the area were murdered and none could dare to challenge his might. “His death in police encounter has led to celebrations in the village,” said Bajpayee, who himself was assaulted by Vikas and his aides publically in 2002.
“People are so relieved and rejoicing as if they have been freed from confinement. Someone is distributing sweets, some families have cut cakes. The locals have arranged for a musical nite… ye ek atank ke yug ka ant hai (This is the end of an era of terror),” Bajpayee said.
In Bikru, Dubey remains a symbol of pride and justice as most villagers were foot soldiers of the don’s army or part of his intricate espionage machinery. Ramkali Mishra, grandmother of the don’s slain aide, Kartikeya, said, “The entire village has been wiped out. Why leave the remaining residents? Police should kill the rest of us.”
Most villagers preferred anonymity in grief. “Police cooked up the encounter story. Dubey was killed in cold blood,” said a villager.