LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday suspended three more policemen over allegations of being in regular contact with notorious gangster Vikas Dubey, the main accused behind the killings of eight cops in Kanpur last week.
As per Kanpur SSP Dinesh Kumar P, those three cops suspended on Monday included two sub-inspectors - Kunwar Pal and KK Sharma - and constable Rajeev of Chaubeypur police station.
These three suspensions are in addition to that of Chaubeypur police station in-charge Vinay Tiwari who was suspended on Saturday on suspicion of playing an informer to the criminal on the police action.
Meanwhile, the cash reward for the information leading to the arrest of Vikas Dubey has been increased to Rs 2.5 lakh. Initially, the cash reward announced was Rs 50,000 which was increased to Rs 1 lakh on Sunday, and now it stands at Rs 2.5 lakh.
Notably, eight police personnel, including a circle officer in the rank of DSP, three SIs four constables were martyred during the operation against Dubey in Bikru village under Chaubeypur police station area in Kanpur in the midnight of Thursday. Dubey, who is still evading arrest, has around 60 criminal cases lodged against him.
The UP police Special Task Force (STF) is investigating the matter along with officers from 40 police stations. Posters of Dubey have been pasted in many areas including Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, and adjoining districts to nab him at the earliest.
As per the sources, the role of suspended cops has been confirmed in the in-house investigation conducted by the force on the basis of CDR of the gangster procured by the investigators. Their call records were checked threadbare before they were suspended. The authorities are also contemplating to initiate
proceedings for their dismissal. In all, 30 cops are on the radar of investigators for their alleged links with the absconding dreaded criminal.
According to Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal, all the policemen found to be the gangster's moles will be terminated and they will face a criminal trial,” Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal had said.
In a major revelation on Sunday, Dayashankar Agnihotri, an aide of the absconding gangster, had admitted that someone from the police department had called Dubey and alerted him hours in advance about the police action. Consequently, Dubey called in a number of shooters from outside. He had even threatened to
deal with the police force and send the cops back in coffins.
One Dayashankar, a close aide of the notorious gangster, was arrested by police after being shot at in the leg during an encounter in Kanpur on Saturday. He is one of the 18 aides of Dubey on whom the police had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 each.