UP govt suspends IPS officer over Kanpur ambush involving Vikas Dubey

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday suspended the then Kanpur police chief Anant Dev after a probe by a special investigation team pointed at a nexus between police and gangster Vikas Dubey, allegedly responsible for the death of eight policemen.

"Anant Dev has been suspended. The action has been taken on the basis of the SIT report," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI.

Dev holds the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police and was later posted with the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Moradabad.

Eight policemen were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur as they headed there to arrest Dubey shortly after midnight on July 2. They were mowed down by bullets fired from the rooftops.

Dubey was shot dead by police on July 10 when he was allegedly trying to escape from their custody while being brought back to Kanpur after his arrest in Ujjain.

A three-member SIT formed to probe the ambush of policemen pointed at a nexus between police and the slain gangster, officials said.

The SIT handed over a 3,500-word report to the state government last week, recommending action against police personnel and administration officials.

It submitted 36 recommendations, giving details of the alleged role of some officers and 80 police personnel in the Kanpur episode.

“It came to the fore that policemen used to give tip-offs to Dubey and on the night of the ambush, he was aware that a police team was coming to Bikru,” a senior officer said.

The SIT findings also refer to the alleged negligence of police in taking action against Dubey, against whom several criminal cases were pending.

Sources said the SIT report also mentioned the alleged police failure in securing the conviction of Dubey and his men in cases lodged against them.

The report accused personnel posted at Kanpur's Chaubeypur police station and senior officers of negligence, sources said.

The SIT analysed Dubey's mobile phone records going back up to a year and found that some policemen were in regular touch with him, they said.

The government constituted the SIT led by Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy, with Additional DG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud as its members, on July 11.

The SIT was initially asked to submit its report by July 31 after looking into all angles, studying related documents and conducting inspections in Kanpur. The deadline was later extended by the government.