Vikas Dubey

 Vikas Dubey was one of the most nnotorious and ferocious criminal from India in the recent past. He based his activities mainly from Kanpur City, Uttar Pradesh. He was known for attacking and killing even the police team. He had killed 8 policeman in an attempt to arrest him. None of the survivor policemen stood witness against him in the court of law and instead recused from the case under oath and bond. He had tacit support of poiliticians and policemen as well.

Vikas Dubey was born on December 26, 1964 – and died in an encounter on July 10, 2020. Vikas Dubey was a notorious Indian criminal, history-sheeter and a gangster-turned-politician from Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh particularly infamous for Bikaru case in July 2020. He was commonly known as "Vikas Pandit", naming himself after the titular character of the 1999 film Arjun Pandit. He was also alternatively referred to as "Pandit."

Extortion, murder, threating and especially encroachment of properties by coercion was his main plank of crime. He had amassed properties worh million through forecful confiscation and encroachment from vulnerable section of the society. 

Prosecutors began the first criminal case against him in the early 1990s, and by 2020, Vikas Dubey had over 60 criminal cases filed against him. He was connected to the murder of a minister of state, and in another incident, was the main accused in killing eight policemen during an attempted arrest. Uttar Pradesh Police declared him an absconder with a bounty of ₹5 lakhs on him, and he was arrested on July 9, 2020, in Ujjain. He was killed on July 10, 2020, in an encounter, after the police vehicle carrying him met with an accident.Media reports state that because of his political connections, Dubey had been acquitted for most of his murders, despite the presence of multiple witnesses at the scenes. Following his death, a judicial commission led by a retired Supreme Court judge, B. S. Chauhan, was initiated to probe Dubey's death and how he managed bail, among other things.

Vikas Dubey was born in a brahmin family in Bikroo village near Bilhaur in Kanpur Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh. From a young age, he formed a local gang and was responsible for criminal activities, including "land grabbing" and murder. He often targeted people for land grabbing as he perceived them to be easy targets. Vilas Dubey soon became one of the most wanted criminals in Kanpur. The first case lodged against him, in 1990, was for murder.[ Soon, he was associated as a close ally of Harikishan Srivastava, a local politician. Harishankar Srivastava was then a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the mid-1990s. Vikas Dubey also joined the BJP in 1995-96 and won elections at the district level, allegedly by employing and applying muscle power. His wife, Richa Dubey also won elections of local bodies. Vikas Dubey was the primary accused in the 2001 killing of BJP leader Santosh Shukla, who was then a minister of state.  He was arrested but was later discharged, allegedly due to his political influence and so called lack of evidences.

On July 3, 2020, during an attempt to arrest Vikas Dubey and his men, eight policemen were killed, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), while seven police personnel were left injured. Two gunmen, identified as a maternal uncle and another close relative of Vikas Dubey, were also killed in the gunfight. The autopsy report revealed that DSP Devendra Mishra had been beheaded and brutalised with an axe, while other policemen had multiple bullet wounds, which were fired from different weapons, suggesting an ambush. The police later recovered weapons, including an Ak-47 rifle and an INSAS rifle, among others. The inspector-general of Kanpur said that at least 60 men had ambushed the police team, who were 30 in number. Call records showed that Vikas Dubey was in contact with multiple police personnel, who leaked information to him. Following this, the Kanpur administration demolished his house with a bulldozer, and 25 police teams were then formed to arrest Vikas Dubey and his other associates.

Vikas Dubey was once earlier arrested in 2017; when the government of Uttar Pradesh charged him under the Gangsters Act and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and charge-sheeted him in 2019. He challenged this at the High Court and secured an order of no coercive action against him. 

Uttar Pradesh government formed a Special Task  Force team to nab vikas Dubey who was on the run and bring him to justice. The STF raided many places and in the process shot down a few ofbhis gang members.

Vikas Dubey was sure of his death through a set encounter by the STF so he also planned a set  surrender in full public view and media glare. The police team kept chasing him to various locations but he would escape the scene before the arrival of the police team at the scene. Finally he escaped to hometown of his wife Madhya Pradesh where he had planned to surrender himself before the state police because he had a few strong politicians there as his acquaintances and mentors as well. Madhya Pradesh is an adjacent state to his hometown Uttar Pradesh.

Vikas Dubey was apprehended again on July 9, 2020, near the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh by the state police where he had his in laws house. He was reported to have shouted his name while being arrested, in fear of being killed like his accomplices. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court that same night which requested police protection for him and a thorough CBI investigation of his crimes. It was a foregone conclusion that this time he wasn't to be sapred by the policemen and would be killed in a fake encounter for the crime of killing members of their fraternity.

Upon learning of his surrender cum arrest the Uttar Pradesh STF moved swiftly to Ujjain with transit remand order. 3 vehicles of STF members were employed to carry Vikas Dubey from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh. Everyone including Vikas Dubey was sure of his encounter therefore paparazzis kept a vigil on the all through the transit.

On 10 July, the police vehicle carrying Vikas Dubey was involved in a road accident and overturned. The real cause of the accident remains a mystery to this day. Vikas Dubey allegedly snatched a pistol from a policeman trying to fix a flat tire and tried to run away,before being killed by the Uttar Pradesh police.