Vikas Dubey probe lands in Noida as SIT scans 56 with links to the gangster

NOIDA: A probe by a special investigation team into the assets amassed by slain gangster Vikas Dubey and his men has reached Noida. The three development authorities in the district, which are responsible for allocating land and giving out work contracts, have been given a list of 56 close associates of Dubey and asked to find out if they bought properties in Noida or Greater Noida recently.

Before being gunned down in an encounter on July 10, Dubey had told interrogators he had visited Noida while he was on the run. Additional chief secretary Sanjay R Bhoosreddy, who is heading the SIT set up to probe the alleged links between government officials and Dubey’s gang, has recently written to the chief executive officers of the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities and sought their help.
The letters had 56 names and the authorities are required to find out if some contract or work rendered out in the past had been outsourced to them.
The name of Jai Bajpai, one of Dubey’s accomplices arrested from Kanpur, is also mentioned. The first list by Bhoosreddy contained 18 names of Dubey’s immediate relatives while the second one had 38 more of his associates.
While the names of Dubey’s family members were easy to find out, the SIT worked for almost a week to identify 38 men from the gangster’s inner circle.
Not willing to be identified, the CEO of one of the authorities confirmed receiving the letter and said they were preparing to respond to Bhoosreddy on Monday. “So far, we have not come across any transaction or deal with these 56 people. But we will check our records once more during the weekend and respond to the letter on Monday,” he added.
Similar letters have been forwarded to officers in-charge of the other housing and industrial development authorities in the state as well as to the headquarters of the stamp and registration department in Prayagraj.
The SIT has to submit to the UP government details of its preliminary inquiry by July 31. The three-member team will probe eight aspects, including properties amassed by Dubey and his family and whether they managed to take over government land by colluding with officials. Headed by Bhoosreddy, the team also has ADG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG J Ravinder Goud as members.
The UP government has left it to the SIT to decide whether help from a specialised agency, such as the Enforcement Directorate or the income tax department, is required to probe the financial background of Dubey and his men.
On the intervening night of July 2 and 3, Dubey and his accomplices had gunned down eight policemen in Chaubepur area of Kanpur. The gangster, who had 60 criminal cases against him, remained on the run for the next one week and was nabbed from Mahakal temple in Ujjain on the morning of July 9. He was killed the next day in an encounter when he reportedly tried to escape from the STF team bringing him back to Kanpur.