LUCKNOW: Gangster Vikas Dubey, who was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to his arrest, had built an empire of crime. The annual turnover of his syndicate was over Rs 10 crore which came from illegal trades such as land grabbing and money lending on interest.
The sources said the don of Shivli was spendthrift as well. He never shied away from splurging on those who would back him in his illegal trades. He also had his men in many departments who would help him win big contracts.
One of the main occupations of the gangster, who had an army of over 100 men, used to be land grabbing. He had even fixed rates for either grabbing a land or getting it vacated on request.
The sources claim that Dubey had fixed the protection money to the tune of Rs 50 lakh per month and used to extort it from a number of industrialists who had their manufacturing units in Chaubeypur industrial area. “There are around 100 such units. The owners would pay him protection money every month.”
Besides, he had huge property amassed illegally. Apart from an ancestral farm measuring 150 bighas in Bikru village, Dubey had two flats in Lucknow. In one of them, his wife and son used to live and the other was lying vacant. His elder son is believed to be based in the UK where he is pursuing a course in medical
science while the younger one studies in Millennium Public School in Lucknow.
Dubey had many plots in his name from Unnao to Kanpur grabbed from others.
Dubey was wanted in 60 criminal cases, including murders, robbery, loot, land grabbing, and extortion lodged against him. He was also accused of killing a BJP MLA in a police station 20 years ago but was exonerated for lack of evidence.