The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the inquiry committee set up to probe the death of gangster Vikas Dubey in an encounter with Uttar Pradesh police, should start functioning within a week, reports PTI.

Setting a deadline, the top court said that the probe must be concluded within two months. Dubey was killed in what the UP police called an escape attempt on the morning of July 10 when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident. The police says that he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area and was chased and shot dead.

The court also approved the Uttar Pradesh government’s draft notification for appointing former apex court judge Justice (retd) B S Chauhan as chairman of the 3-member inquiry commission. The other two members of the inquiry commission would be – former high court judge Justice (retd) Shashi Kant Agarwal and retired Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh K L Gupta.

The state government told a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde that the inquiry committee would also probe the circumstances under which Dubey, who was facing 65 FIRs, was released on bail. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, read out the terms of reference of the inquiry committee.

The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions that sought a court-monitored probe into the encounters of Dubey and five of his alleged associates. Some of the pleas have also sought probe into the killing of eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, who were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3.