Gangster Vikas Dubey, who was being taken by police from Ujjain to Kanpur, was killed in an encounter on Friday morning after his car overturned and he tried to escape, said Uttar Pradesh police.

Inspector General of Police (Kanpur) Mohit Agarwal said Dubey was killed in the encounter after he tried to flee from the spot following the road accident at Barra area in Kanpur. He also added that four policemen were injured in the accident. 

“Dubey was injured in the encounter and he was declared dead in the hospital,” ADG Kanpur range, J N Singh said.

According to the police, Dubey, after the accident snatched the pistol of an STF personnel and tried to flee but was surrounded by the police team and was injured in an exchange of fire. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead, the police added.

Dubey was being taken in a three-car convoy after his arrest from Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain. The gangster was arrested on Thursday from Ujjain’s Mahakal temple. The shopkeepers from whom he bought the puja offerings, recognised him and alerted the police.     

As he was being taken away by the police he kept on shouting, “I am Vikas Dubey from Kanpur.” Dubey had been on the run since an early morning raid on his Kanpur house on July 3, when the police party that had come to arrest him came under attack. Eight policemen died in that incident. 

Six days later, Dubey was seen at a hotel in Faridabad and arrested a day later on July 9 from Ujjain. During the hunt for the gangster, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested many of his close aides and relatives and also gunned down Amar Dubey, a very close aide of the history-sheeter.