8 policemen shot dead during anticrime raid in India’s Uttar Pradesh

Eight policemen in Uttar Pradesh were shot dead early Friday at a village in Kanpur where they had gone to arrest a criminal wanted for murder. The policemen arrived to indiscriminate firing from all sides by the criminal and his associates, NDTV reports.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 3 July 2020, 05:25 AM
Updated : 3 July 2020, 05:35 AM

Deputy Superintendent of Police Divendra Kumar Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables were killed in Dikru village, which is 150 km from state capital Lucknow.

Teams from three police stations had gone to the village in search of a politically-connected, wanted gangster - Vikas Dubey - charged in 60 criminal cases, including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting. A raid was planned in his village after he was accused in a fresh attempted murder case.

“The intention was to arrest him. There was an ambush. The firing by criminals was from three sides and it was totally planned," said Dinesh Kumar, Kanpur's police chief.

Vikas Dubey and other men had put up road blocks on the routes that lead to the village, according to UP Director General of Police HC Awasthi.

A bulldozer blocking the road indicated an organised ambush.

Once the cops removed the blocks and managed to get to the village, they were fired at from rooftops by shooters who were ready for them.

Visuals from a nearby hospital showed ambulances bringing in wounded policemen. A road taken by the policemen when they were attacked was splattered with blood.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths and asked for a report on the incident amid questions about lack of proper planning by the police teams who went after Vikas Dubey.

The UP police chief has been directed to take strict action against criminals, said a statement from the Chief Minister's office.

Vikas Dubey has a long history of crime, including an alleged role in the 2001 murder of a BJP politician who was chased and shot dead inside a police station; he was acquitted in that case.