India / Looted arms of 8 policemen martyred in shootout found in Dubey's house

Kanpur: Automatic rifles - an AK-47 and an INSAS - among the service weapons looted from the eight policemen killed in the Kanpur ambush, were recovered today based on information shared by killed gangster Vikas Dubey's close aide Shashikant, the Uttar Pradesh Police said in a press conference this morning. The police said the recoveries were made in Dubey's village, Bikru.

"The AK-47 rifle was recovered from the gangster's house and the INSAS rifle was recovered from his aide's house nearby. During interrogation, Dubey's aide admitted to his involvement in the attack on policemen in Kanpur's Bikru village," Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Prashant Kumar told mediapersons.

Shashikant, who carried a reward of Rs 50,000, was arrested Tuesday. He is one of the 21 named accused in the July 3 attack.

A large cache of weapons, including some looted from the police on July 3, was recovered from Dubey's house, the police had said after they demolished the structure last week.

The police officer said Dubey looted the weapons from the policemen after killing them.

"Post-mortem report reveals that sharp-edged weapons and guns were used to kill the eight policemen at Bikru. Circle Officer Devendra Mishra had four bullet injuries. All bullets were shot from point-blank range," the police officer told ANI.

So far, of the 21 named accused in the case, six, including Dubey, have been killed and five have been arrested. A hunt is on for 11 more named accused, the police said.

Gangster Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur ambush, was shot dead on July 10 by the UP Police's STF wing, who claim that he was trying to flee after the police SUV carrying him from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain overturned at an isolated stretch of the highway on the outskirts of Kanpur city.

The SUV carrying Dubey met with an accident at Bhaunti in Kanpur district after toppling on the road which was slippery after rains, the police have claimed.

A probe by a one-member judicial commission is ongoing into Dubey's encounter and July 3 ambush.

The policemen had walked into an ambush on Friday morning when they went to catch Vikas Dubey at Bikru village, which is around 150 km from state capital Lucknow. Many of them were shot with their own weapons, including an AK-47. The team was forced to leave their car and walk in the pre-dawn darkness after finding an earthmover blocking the road.

Another probe by a three member team is going on to investigate the rise of gangster Dubey and his criminal record.