Gangster Vikas Dubey hid in Faridabad for three days before showing up at hotel

GURUGRAM: Two pistols snatched from the UP Police team that was ambushed by gangster Vikas Dubey’s henchmen in Kanpur last week were found in a house in Faridabad’s Indra Complex Colony where Dubey was allegedly holed up for three days. Dubey is the main accused in the killing of eight policemen during the ambush at Bikru village in Kanpur Dehat on July 3.
A joint team of policemen from UP’s special task force, which has been given the job of finding Dubey, and Faridabad’s crime branch raided the house late on Tuesday and arrested Kartikey alias Prabhat, a close aide of Dubey.Ankur Kumar and his father Shravan, to whom the house belongs, were also taken into custody and charged with sheltering a fugitive. Shravan was found to have Covid-19 after the accused were tested. But Dubey, who had hours before the raid surfaced on the CCTV footage of a nearby hotel, had already bolted from the Indra Complex hideout. Amid speculation that he would try to surrender in court, police in neighbouring districts, particularly Noida and Greater Noida, were put on high alert through Wednesday. Haryana Police also set up a special task force to help UP Police track down Dubey, who has dodged electronic surveillance by not carrying a cellphone.
The gangster was last seen on CCTV cameras of a hotel near Badkal Chowk that he visited on Tuesday evening, purportedly after getting wind of the STF’s imminent arrival in Faridabad. Wearing a blue t-shirt and a blue face mask, a pair of jeans and sneakers, he is seen standing near the reception area of the hotel. But he changed his plans and left soon after. “He left the hotel alone and did not have a personal vehicle. He was some trouble walking, probably due to some injury,” said a police source, adding Dubey is likely to left Faridabad in a taxi or some other mode of transport. Police in Gurgaon were put on high alert. Police said they found a total of four pistols and 44 rounds of bullets in Kartikeya’s possession during the raid at the Indra Compex Colony hose that involved a brief exchange of fire. All three arrested were booked under sections 186 (obstruction of duty), 353 (assault), 307 (shooting with intention to kill), 379B (use of deadly weapons), 411 and 412 (receiving stolen property), and 212 (harbouring an offender) of the IPC and sections of Arms Act. They were produced in a Faridabad court and taken to UP on transit remand.
The Haryana ST believes Dubey is still hiding in NCR and has activated its informer network. “Our teams are working on it,” said DIG (Haryana STF) Satheesh Balan. DGP (crime) Mohammad Akil said UP Police is leading hunt. “We can only provide legal, technical and operational assistance as and when they require it,” said Akil. Sources said Kartikey had claimed during interrogation that after shooting at the cops in Bikru, they took shelter at Dubey’s friend’s house in Shivli for two days, before moving to Faridabad.