Five days after eight policemen were killed during an encounter with history-sheeter Vikas Dubey in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday shot dead the gangster's close aide Amar Dubey in Hamirpur district, about 200 kilometres from here.
According to police sources, a special task force (STF) team intercepted Amar while he was on way to a relative's house to hide. He was asked to surrender but he opened fire and was gunned down in retaliatory firing.
Police said that an automatic gun was recovered from his possession. It was Amar, who had sprayed Circle Officer Devendra Mishra with bullets killing him on the spot during the encounter last week.
Sources said that another close aide of the gangster, Shyamu Bajpai, was also arrested on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Dubey, who continued to remain at large, was reportedly spotted in Haryana's Faridabad town on Tuesday night, sources here said.
An STF team raided the hotel, where Dubey was spotted but had escaped from there by then. A massive hunt was on to nab the gangster and cash reward on him was also doubled from Rs 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh.
Alert was sounded in the UP districts bordering Nepal as well as on the state's borders with Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
A probe was also on into the alleged letter written by the slain CO to the then SSP of Kanpur Anat Dev claiming that the SHO of the local police station had a nexus with the gangster. No action was taken on the letter.
Vinay Tewari, who was the SHO of Chaubepur police station, has been detained and quizzed by the STF sleuths.
"Aide of Vikas, Shyamu Bajpai was arrested after an encounter with police in Chaubeypur area. Bajpai, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 sustained bullet injury on his leg," SHO Chaubeypur K M Rai told PTI.
IG STF, said, "STF was tracking all those named in the FIR and wherever we get information we are taking help of local police. We are also trying to trace weapons of policemen taken away from the spot and also weapons used by the criminals to attack the police force."
About the delay in the arrest of Vikas Dubey, the IG said, "He is a hardened criminal and was used to hiding so it is taking time but we will surely nab him. We have started getting success."
Eight policemen were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Vikas Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on Friday.
Vikas Dubey, the notorious criminal who carries a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh, is still absconding.
According to sources, Amar Dubey was involved in the security of Vikas Dubey and travelled with him wherever he went while Bajpai too was close to the gangster.
Another two associates of Vikay Dubey -- Prem Prakash Pandey and Atul Dubey were killed by police in an encounter in Kanpur on Friday.
Vikas Dubey's close relative Shama, neighbour Suresh Verma and domestic help Rekha and her husband Dayashankar Agnihotri, a key member of Dubey's gang, were arrested by police.
Agnihotri was arrested on Sunday after an encounter in which police shot him in the leg.
On Tuesday, all 68 personnel of the Chaubeypur Police Station were shunted to the reserve police lines amid doubts over their professional integrity.
The announcement was made soon after police transferred Anand Deo, DIG STF, who till recently was the Senior Superintendent of Police in Kanpur. Deo was transferred to the Provincial Armed Police (PAC) unit in Moradabad.
Deo was the Kanpur SSP in March when Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra purportedly wrote a damning letter, which surfaced on the social media after he was killed in the Bikru ambush.
The unverified letter to the then Kanpur SSP alleged that Chaubeypur station officer Vinay Tiwari had watered down an FIR lodged against the gangster. It suggested that Tiwari and Dubey were close.
However, police said there is no record of the purported letter, which is undated and carries no serial number. Deo also said that the signature on it does not match that of the slain officer.
But police said they will still investigate the letter. Lucknow Range IG Lakshmi Singh is probing the matter.
Police have named 21 people in the FIR registered after the attack. The FIR also mentioned 50-60 unidentified people.
Earlier, the Kanpur Police had released the photos of 15 criminals including Amar Dubey who were said to be close to Vikas Dubey.
Posters carrying the pictures of the alleged criminals, most of them carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 for their arrest, were put up at road toll plazas, including those in Unnao, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Fatehpur and areas near the India-Nepal border.