What Akhilesh Yadav , Priyanka Gandhi said on Vikas Dubey Encounter

Gangster Vikas Dubey, accused of killing eight policemen at his village last week was shot dead by the police on Friday in an encounter. He tried to escape after an accident involving one of the vehicles in the Special Task Force (STF) cavalcade bringing him back to Kanpur from Madhya Pradesh.

He was spotted by Mahakal temple (Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh) security guards when he was entering the temple. The time when Dubey was confronted by the guards, he shouted and was taken to the police. Few hours after two of his close people were shot dead by Uttar Pradesh police in separate encounters, he was also arrested. Three other people including Dubey’s closest aide Amar Dubey, were also shot dead.

Dubey was being brought back to Kanpur after he was nabbed in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city outside a temple. STF officials said Vikas Dubey snatched a weapon from one of the policemen after the accident. They further said that Dubey then ran to a nearby field and was asked to surrender, which he refused to do. Subsequently, he was killed in an encounter later. According to the police, the police team retaliated in self-defence after which Dubey was injured. He was taken to a hospital, where he died during treatment. The STF vehicle overturned following heavy rains in the area. Four policemen were also injured in the accident.

As news emerged that Dubey had been shot dead while trying to escape after a road accident while being taken by the UP Police to Kanpur on Friday morning, many politicians raised questions on the encounter. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav questioned whether the it was a surrender or an arrest and targeted the Uttar Pradesh Government via a tweet. Even Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had questions for the UP Government.

Police in Uttar Pradesh had earlier killed at least five of his associates, who were involved in the attack on the policemen, and arrested many people who were close to him, including his wife and son and even policemen who helped him to escape.