New Delhi: Exposing a critical loophole in the police intelligence system, a key aide of Vikas Dubey, the primary accused in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur last week, said that a phone call from the local police station informed the gang about the police raid.
Daya Shankar Agnihotri, who was arrested after an alleged encounter in the Kalyanpur area of Kanpur on Sunday, said that the phone call gave them the time to plan the attack on the police party.
Agnihotri was shot in the leg during the alleged encounter on Sunday. The police said that he was among those who ambushed the police party on the night of June 2.
Speaking to the media, Agnihotri said that Dubey received information about the police team from an official in the local police station, following which he asked his associates to reach his house in Kanpur’s Bikru village with weapons. He said that there were around 25-30 men who attacked the police team.
Also read: Kanpur Bloodbath: Understanding the Anatomy of an ‘Encounter of the Police’
“I was locked inside the house and couldn’t see anything,” he said, adding that Dubey had borrowed his gun.
Agnihotri’s claim came amidst IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal’s statement that every official of the Chaubeypur police station is being probed in connection to the killing of the eight policemen. SHO Chaubeypur Vinay Tiwari was also suspended for allegedly playing a role in tipping off Dubey. Tiwari, too, was a part of the team that had gone to arrest Dubey.
Agarwal said that Agnihotri was Dubey’s “right-hand man” and had been living with him for the last 25 years.
Meanwhile, a bounty of Rs 1 lakh for Dubey and Rs 25,000 for another 18 identified accused persons was announced by the police department. Two accused persons believed to be relatives of Dubey were killed in an alleged encounter hours after the incident.