The Uttar Pradesh government has set up an independent one-member commission to investigate the death of gangster Vikas Dubey. The commission will be headed by a retired judge and has been given a time frame of two months to submit its report.
The commission will be headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal. The panel will probe the incidents and submit a report within two months, according to a government notification. Any change in its tenure shall be at the behest of the government, it added.
Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter on Friday morning after he tried to flee following a road accident while he was being taken to Kanpur from Ujjain where he was arrested. Dubey was wanted in the Kanpur shootout that had left 8 Uttar Pradesh Police personnel dead.
The panel was set up under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952 and it will be based in Kanpur.
The statement said that the one-member commission will also probe the gangster’s relationship with police and people from various departments. Besides, it will suggest ways so as to prevent such a repetition in future.
A government spokesperson said the killing of cops by Vikas Dubey and his henchmen and the gangster’s encounter are a subject of public importance. Hence, their probe is essential, the spokesperson added.
“The panel will also investigate all encounters in the period from July 2-3 to 10,” the spokesperson said.
The decision to set up a commission comes in the backdrop of the opposition leaders’ demand for a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the entire episode to bring out the truth and identify those who had granted protection to Vikas Dubey.
Earlier on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted an SIT to probe all aspects related to Vikas Dubey besides the alleged laxity and role of the local police. Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy is heading the SIT. It will have Additional DG Hari Ram Sharma and DIG Ravinder Goud as its members. The SIT will submit its report by July 31.
