LUCKNOW: Following the recommendation of action by Special Investigation Team (SIT) against a couple of IPS officers for having links with dreaded gangster Vikas Dubey of Bikru village in Kanpur Dehat, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended former Kanpur deputy inspector general of police Anant Deo Tiwari late on Thursday evening.
The three-member SIT in its 3200-page report submitted to the state government last week had pointed to a nexus between the senior official and the gangster, said senior home department officials.
The SIT was set up to probe the July 3 ambush carried out by the dreaded gangster Vikas Dubey shooting eight cops including a DySP dead in Bikru village in Kanpur. The police team ambushed by the gangster and his henchmen were on an assignment to arrest Dubey who was wanted in a case of attempt to murder.
Consequently, Dubey was shot dead by the cops on July 10 when he was allegedly trying to escape while being brought back to Kanpur following his arrest in Ujjain in Rajasthan.
Confirming Anant Deo's suspension, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said that the senior IPS officer had been suspended on the basis of the recommendation of SIT report into the Bikru massacre.
A three-member SIT formed to probe the ambush of policemen pointed to a nexus between the police and the slain gangster, officials said. A senior home department official said that the DIG, who is currently posted at Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Moradabad, allegedly patronised Dubey during his stint as Kanpur SSP in connivance with former Chaubeypur police station officer Vinay Tiwari who is in jail for aiding the gangster and tipping him off about the police action on the fateful night of July 3. The SIT had recommended action against police personnel and administration officials.
It submitted 36 recommendations, giving details of the alleged role of some officers and 80 police personnel in the Kanpur episode. However, the government is yet to take any action against these officials.
"It came to the fore that policemen used to give tip-offs to Dubey and on the night of the ambush, he was aware that a police team was coming to Bikru," a senior officer said.
After the massacre, the police personnel deployed at Chaubeypur police station under which Bikru falls, were sent to police lines. Meanwhile, SHO Vinay Tiwari and sub-inspector KK Sharma were arrested on charges of assisting the criminal. At present both the cops are in jail.