Bikru ambush investigation team delays report

SIT team probing the Bikru village encounter is not able to submit its report by August 29 due to the COVID-19 crisis and the festive season. According to sources, the team might take some more time up to September 30 to submit its report.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the Bikru village encounter will not be able to submit its investigation report on Saturday. The team might take some more time up to September 30 to submit its report, sources said.

Reportedly, due to the COVID-19 crisis and festivals like Raksha Bandhan, statements of several policemen have not been recorded yet. A member of SIT, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) HR Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19. Hence, SIT will take some time in preparing their report, they added.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police may interrogate slain gangster Vikas Dubey's sons with regard to the Bikru encounter that took place last month, Kanpur Rural SP Brijesh Srivastava had said on Thursday.

Gangster Vikas Dubey was the main accused in the encounter that took place in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur, in which a group of assailants opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest Dubey. Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter that took place last month.

Dubey was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police on July 9 from the premises of the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain after he was on the run for some days following the encounter in Kanpur, where eight policemen were killed.

The Uttar Pradesh Police killed Dubey in an encounter on July 10 after he 'attempted to flee' while being taken to Kanpur from Ujjain.

(PTI report)