It has been five days since gangster Vikas Dubey and his men killed eight policemen in Kanpur’s Bikru village and escaped. Even now, the police are no close to catching him.

On Wednesday, police shot dead an aide of gangster Vikas Dubey, arrested six other alleged accomplices and sent two of their own men behind bars in connection with the ambush which killed eight police personnel last week.

But the gangster appeared to have given police the slip in Haryana’s Faridabad, near Delhi.

VIKAS DUBEY TRACED TO FARIDABAD, ESCAPES

A team raided a house around midnight Tuesday in Faridabad’s Kheli Pul area, where the gangster had stayed for a while, Haryana police said. They arrested three people there, after a brief exchange of fire.

Also, CCTV footage showed a man who resembled the gangster at a Faridabad hotel. He did not check-in when a staff member insisted on an identity card with a clear photograph.

Based on the intelligence input on absconding gangster Vikas Dubey, the Faridabad Police visited the hotel and questioned the manager.

They later examined the digital video recorder (DVR) of the CCTV camera installed there, caught a glimpse of the absconding gangster, wearing a blue T-shirt.

CLOSE AIDE KILLED IN HAMIRPUR, ANOTHER SHOT AT IN CHAUBEYPUR

Apart from the Faridabad encounter, police engaged Dubey’s alleged accomplices in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur, where one man was killed, and in Kanpur, where three were arrested.

Police sources said Amar Dubey, the man killed in Hamirpur’s Maudaha village, travelled with the gangster wherever he went, ensuring his security.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said there was a reward of Rs 50,000 for his arrest.

An unlicensed semi-automatic .32 bore pistol was seized.

“Acting on a tip-off, a team of the STF and local police surrounded Amar. He was injured in the firing and he died during treatment at a hospital,” Hamirpur Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar said.

An inspector and constable were injured in the Hamirpur encounter.

In the encounter in Kanpur’s Chaubeypur area, under which Dubey’s Bikru village falls, Shyamji Bajpai, also known as Shyamu, was shot in the leg, the ADG said. Sanjiv Dubey and Jahan Yadav were also arrested with him. Shyamu too carried a reward of Rs 50,000 for his arrest.

THREE AIDES ARRESTED IN FARIDABAD, ONE COVID POSITIVE

In Faridabad, the local crime branch arrested three men Ankur, his father Shravan and Kartikey alias Prabhat.

One of the three alleged accomplices of Uttar Pradesh gangster Vikas Dubey, arrested by a Crime Branch team of Haryana police from Faridabad, has tested positive for Covid-19.

The Haryana police arrested a father son-duo along with a key associate of Dubey after a shootout during a raid at a house in Faridabad on a tip-off that they were holed up there.

While Covid-19-positive Kartikey alias Prabhat has been kept in transit remand, the other two Shravan and his son Ankur have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

The encounter in Hamirpur followed information extracted from one of them, according to police.

Four weapons, including two 9 mm pistols belonging to the police, and 44 live cartridges were seized in Faridabad, Kumar said.

UP POLICE ARRESTS TWO COPS FOR AIDING DUBEY

Those arrested on Wednesday included two suspended sub-inspectors, Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari and Bikru beat in-charge KK Sharma.

Both are accused of tipping off Vikas Dubey, which allowed the alleged gangster to set an ambush for a police team which had gone to arrest him at his Bikru village near Kanpur.

Tiwari and beat in-charge of Bikru KK Sharma, who were suspended soon after the encounter, have also been arrested on charges of fleeing the encounter site and putting the lives of other policemen in danger.

Both the suspended sub-inspectors were detained for questioning and later arrested.

Vinay Tiwari had been previously named in a letter allegedly written by slain DSP Devendra Mishra for his close ties to Dubey.

NOOSE TIGHTENS ON ACCOMPLICES, POLICE

Since the ambush early Friday, three alleged accomplices of the gangster have been killed and 10 arrested, in addition to the two policemen. All 68 personnel at the Chaubeypur police station, where Tiwari was the station officer, were sent to the reserve police lines.

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) also detained Dubey’s brother-in-law in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district on Wednesday. On Monday, the relative’s son was detained.

HIGH ALERT IN NOIDA AFTER TIPOFF

Security checks have been intensified in Gautam Buddh Nagar, the border district in western Uttar Pradesh, over reports of Kanpur ambush mastermind Vikas Dubey hiding in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

Police suspect Dubey may try to surrender on national television and hence police presence has been beefed up in Noida’s film city, where many news channels are headquartered.

The district police have intensified checks on major roads and highways leading to Delhi and Haryana, while also monitoring those leading towards interior regions of Uttar Pradesh.

BOUNTY RAISED, MORE PEOPLE CHARGED

The Uttar Pradesh government has increased the reward on Vikas Dubey from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

The state government has been increasing the reward on the gangster who is responsible for the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur on July 3, from the initial Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh which was then increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs and now Rs 5 lakh.

The FIR lodged by police after the Bikru ambush named 21 people and mentioned 50-60 others.

“The STF is tracking all those named in the FIR and wherever we get information, we are taking the help of the local police,” STF Inspector General Amitabh Yash said.

“We are also trying to trace the weapons taken away from the policemen,” he added. An AK-47 and an INSAS rifle, snatched during the ambush, are yet to be recovered.

Asked about the “delay” in arresting Dubey, the IG said he is a hardened criminal and used to remaining in hiding. “But we will surely nab him. We have started getting success.”