Kanpur shootout mastermind gangster Vikas Dubey hiding near Noida, claim sources

In a significant development, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force has managed to zero in on the location of wanted Uttar Pradesh gangster Vikas Dubey, sources claimed on Thursday (July 9). Dubey is hiding near Noida in Uttar Pradesh and UP STF is on course to find out his location soon, sources added.

On Wednesday (July 8) night, a man had claimed to have seen the notorious gangster in Noida. A man riding an auto coming from Ekkurthy Golchakkar in Greater Noida West towards Noida Sector 71 has told the police that Dubey was also in the same auto in which he was travelling.

UP Police shot dead a close aide of Vikas identified as Praveen alias Bauva Dubey on Thursday (July 9) morning. Bauva carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head and was one of the accused in the ambush in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur in which eight policemen were killed on July 3. Bauva was killed in an encounter in Etawah by a joint team of UP Police and Special Task Force.

Another close aide of Vikas Dubey identified as Prabhat Mishra was killed by Uttar Pradesh police in an encounter near Kanpur on Thursday morning. Prabhat was arrested by Haryana Police on Wednesday (July 8) and was being brought to Uttar Pradesh on a transit remand for further interrogation when he tried to escape from police custody and was shot dead.

Sources said that when a police team was bringing Prabhat to Kanpur, the tyre of the vehicle in which they were travelling got punctured near Panki. Prabhat tried to snatch pistol from one of the policemen and opened fire at the cops escorting him. It is learnt that two STF officers got injured in the firing. Police opened fire at Prabhat in self defence, triggering an encounter.

Dubey is the main accused in the ambush in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur in which eight policemen were killed on July 3. The dreaded history-sheeter has not been arrested even though five days have passed since the incident took place.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday increased the reward on any information leading to the arrest of Dubey from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. "Cash reward for the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. It would be given to those providing information about him," Additional Chief Secretary, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.