The Uttar Pradesh Police will request the court to release wife of slain criminal Amar Dubey, an associate of gangster Vikas Dubey, in the absence of sufficient evidence against her in connection with the death of eight policemen in Bikru village, a police spokesperson said on Monday.
The investigation officer (IO) has been asked to file a closure report before the concerned court here at the earliest and ensure her early release, he said.
The IO has also been asked to take help of senior prosecution officers for filing the closure report against Khushi Dubey, wife of Amar Dubey, the spokesperson said.
Khushi was arrested after her husband was killed in an encounter with the police in Hamirpur district on July 8 over his alleged involvement in the ambush in Bikru village.
The couple reportedly got married just a week before the infamous ambush.
Meanwhile, Bithoor Station Officer (SO), Kaushalendra Pratap Singh, who had sustained two bullet injuries during the ambush, appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday and recorded his statement. The SIT is headed by Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy.
He told the SIT that he got a call from the then SO Chaubeypur Police Station, Vinay Tiwari on the intervening night of July 2 and 3 following which he along with his sub-inspectors and around 10 constables went to Bikru village to arrest the dreaded history-sheeter, Vikas Dubey.
According to an official pleading anonymity, Singh told the SIT that the police team, which had gone to arrest Vikas Dubey, was headed by Circle Officer (Billahur) and comprised about three dozen police personnel.
The Bithoor station officer also informed the SIT that police vehicles were left about one kilometre away from the ambush site and the policemen walked on foot.
The SO elaborated that as soon as they crossed the earthmover which was deliberately parked to block the path of the policemen, they fell to a shower of bullets (around 20 to 25 rounds), the official said.
Singh said the policemen who were without weapons tried to hide themselves, while he and others, who had weapons took their position.
He told the SIT that he sat against a wall with two other policemen and fired four to five rounds, but the assailants had stationed themselves at a height and were far away from his range of vision. The criminals were firing from the rooftops, he said.
Singh said he struggled after being hit by two bullet shots, adding that constable Ajay Sengar informed him that he was shot in his stomach, while another constable was shot in the hand.
He said he somehow managed to take his colleagues away from the spot through a dilapidated house which had a broken door, the official said.
Singh also apprised the SIT that when they reached Bikru village, it was not dark. Street lights were on which proved to be a drawback as the assailants on the rooftops took their positions. There was a power outage later, he said.
The Bithoor station officer also noted that SO (Chaubeypur) Vinay Tiwari, who has been sent to jail on charges of criminal conspiracy, was with his team when the police party reached Bikru village. He said Tiwari, however, lagged behind after other policemen crossed the earthmover parked to block their path.
The SIT team visited the Shivli Police Station in Kanpur Dehat late Sunday evening to collect details about the murder of minister of state Santosh Shukla. Shukla was killed inside the police station in 2001 and Vikas Dubey was an accused in the case.
Additional DG Hariram Sharma and Deputy IG J Ravindra Gour, who are part of the SIT, examined the action taken by the police in this case.
They also tried to explore how Vikas Dubey or someone from his family headed the Bikru panchayat for the past 25 years.
The SIT team was also curious to know how despite being in jail on murder charges, Vikas Dubey won the zila panchayat election from Ghimau, under which Bikru village falls, in 2000 after serving as the village head for two terms, officials said.
The three-member SIT has been constituted by the state government to probe the Kanpur incident, including the alleged laxity and involvement of local police with slain gangster Vikas Dubey.
It will submit its report by July 31.
On July 3, eight police personnel, including a DSP, were gunned down in Bikru village by the henchmen of Vikas Dubey.
Seven others, including a civilian, were injured in the attack from a rooftop after the police team entered the village past July 2 midnight to arrest the gangster.
Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter on July 10 after police claimed that he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area where the vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident.
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