New Delhi: The Haryana Police have been put on high alert after reports of sighting of fugitive Vikas Dubey, responsible for the murder of eight policemen in Uttar Pradesh, in a Faridabad hotel, officials said on Wednesday.
However, he escaped before the local police could conduct a raid.
As per the intelligence reports, Vikas had stayed at in a small-budget hotel located in the populated Badkhal Chowk area under a fake identity.
Joint teams of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have detained a Dubey aide who confirmed that Dubey stayed with him at the hotel.
The police have managed to access a CCTV grab which showed Dubey, donning a dark black shirt, jeans and mask, was present in the hotel.
Another CCTV grab showed he was standing on the roadside with a bag, awaiting a vehicle.
As per the hotel staff, Vikas had identified himself as Ankur, and had escaped the hotel before the police arrived.
"As per our information, Vikas Dubey is using a public transport for his movement in Delhi and the NCR (National Capital Region). The CCTV footage clearly showed he was waiting for a vehicle on the roadside," a senior police official told IANS.
A massive manhunt for the gangster, who carries a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh, has been underway in the Delhi-NCR region. 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.
Three aides killed in encounter
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday killed Amar Dubey, an aide of Vikas Dubey. He is the third member of Vikas Dubey's gang to be killed in an encounter with the police.
Amar Dubey, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000, was killed in an encounter in Maudaha village in Hamirpur district, STF IG Amitabh Yash told PTI.
According to sources, Amar Dubey was involved in the security of Vikas Dubey and travelled with him wherever he went. Earlier, police had killed criminals Prem Prakash Pandey and Atul Dubey in an encounter in Kanpur on Friday.
Associates arrested
Another associate of the gangster was also arrested on Wednesday in an encounter in Chaubeypur area here, police said.
"Vikas Dubey's aide 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.
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, have been arrested by police.
Agnihotri was arrested on Sunday after an encounter in which police shot him in the leg.
68 police personnel transferred
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.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI.)