A Kanpur Dehat court has recently sentenced an aide of slain gangster Vikas Dubey to 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case related to the 2020 killing of eight policemen.
Shyamu Bajpai has been convicted for firing at the police team that had arrived to apprehend him, shortly after the killing of the eight officers in Bikru village of the district.
Bajpai, accused of concealing the weapons used in the Bikru incident, has been charged under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.
Following the Bikru incident, Vikas Dubey and 5 alleged accomplices were killed in encounters with the police.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Lakhan Singh Yadav stated that charges have been filed in 37 criminal cases related to the Bikru incident. This marks the first conviction in the Bikru killing and its associated cases.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Amit Malviya has also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Bajpai and has ordered an additional three months of simple imprisonment if he fails to pay the amount. Yadav confirmed that three more cases against Bajpai are still pending.
Bajpai, who was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000, was arrested after a police encounter in the Chaubeypur area six days after the Bikru incident, according to Yadav. During his arrest, Bajpai fired indiscriminately at the police team in a failed attempt to escape.
Another official described Bajpai as a key accused involved in hiding the weapons used in the attack against the police.
Raju Porwal, the district government counsel, stated that witness testimonies and forensic reports played a crucial role in securing the conviction.
The Bikru incident took place on July 3, 2020, when eight personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village while en route to arrest Vikas Dubey.
Vikas Dubey himself was killed in an encounter on July 10.
Following the incident, two of Vikas Dubey’s associates, Prem Prakash Pandey and Atul Dubey, were killed in an encounter in Kanpur. Amar Dubey was killed by the police on July 8, while Kartikeya alias Prabhat and Bauwa Dubey alias Praveen were killed in separate encounters on subsequent days.
Out of the 41 individuals accused in the Bikru incident, 32 are currently in jail, while seven, including a minor, have been granted bail. The police have invoked the Gangster Act against 32 accused and the National Security Act against seven individuals involved in the case.
