I don't remember the name of the movie, but I heard a dialogue long back. Someone said, "The biggest Gunda is the Police. You can't beat it.". I think the idea was that no matter how big a gangster or an underworld gang becomes, the Police can always beat them at their own game. There is no gangster who can truly be safe, if the Police really want to kill him/her. And the Police takes orders from the Politicians in power. This is why, the most successful gangsters have always maintained good connections with politicians. Strongman Vikas Dubey was no different. He is said to be close to Samajwadi Party, although he would have 'friends' in all political parties (a necessity, since he won't know which party comes to power next).
In last few days, an unbelievable set of events have crossed our Television sets. These events collectively are unprecedented. The culmination of the events is like plot of a blockbuster Bollywood Crime movie.
Disclaimer: I had never heard of Vikas Dubey before. I am basing my analysis and opinion mainly on newspaper reports I have read in the last few days. I am not watching TV New anymore to avoid information-overload. Hence excuse and correct me if I have missed anything important.
Who is Vikas Dubey
According to Dainik Bhaskar report, Vikas Dubey was a contractor and muscleman who used to get (illegal) mining job done for a few politicians from the ruling party. As per the nature of his job, he had friends in the Police department because such work cannot be done without their consent. Also, because of the nature of his job, he had friends as well as foes. His enemies might have wanted to take his position and do the profitable work of illegal mining.
He had several cases against him in the police station, including cases of murder, but no substantial proof was ever collected against him and hence he had got out after being arrested in the past. Now, all such strongmen have enemies who try to put them in trouble by making allegations even in unrelated murder cases, plus, most strongmen never do murder by their own hands, and hence we cannot say for sure if Vikas Dubey was really involved in those crimes or not.
Why Did It All Start: Was There a Bigger Conspiracy?
It all started on 2nd of July. As per Dainik Bhaskar report, the case registered against Vikas Dubey was a silly case that some of Vikas Dubey's friends had beaten up a guy and snatched his motorcycle. The matter was already sorted out in the village Panchayat and the matter was closed. But someone made the guy to go to the Police station and register a case. It is highly doubtful that why a guy will go to the Police against such a big mafia man, especially for a relatively small crime like a bike theft if the matter was already resolved by Panchayat. It indicates a bigger conspiracy and smells of a conspiracy to frame Vikas Dubey in fake cases.
As Dainik Bhaskar reports, the Police had already gone to Vikas Dubey's house two times before. God knows why the Police was going there to enquire about a bike theft case, which was not even done by Vikas but by some other men. It smells of a bigger conspiracy. So, on 2nd of July, in the night, the policemen from 5 different Police Stations went to Vikas Dubey's home in his village, to inquire about the same bike theft case or some other case. It is clear, that police of "5 Police Stations" won't be needed to go to his house just to inquire about a bike theft case; and even in the night time! There must have been a bigger plan.
If the police went there to "arrest" Vikas Dubey, did they tell him about it or allowed him a legal resource? Because as per media reports, there was no other new case filed against him apart from this "bike theft" case. Was it a plan to do his fake encounter in the night?
Why Would Vikas Dubey's Men Attack The Police Inside His Own House?
If we use logic and reasoning, it is difficult to believe that a person like Vikas Dubey, who had years of experience in managing illegal mining for politicians and had friends in all political parties as well as police and other government departments, would resort to the "hot blood" technique of indiscriminate killing of 8 Policemen and injuring 6 others.
As per Dainik Bhaskar report, the Policemen were able to go inside Vikas Dubey's house and Vikas was talking to them to resolve the matter, and then an argument broke out between the two parties which led to Vikas' men killing the policemen. So what exactly happened inside the house? Was it that the Police first pulled out their guns; but Vikas Dubey's men were smarter and hence the policemen were gunned down? It is common sense that a veteran mafia and experienced strongman would never kill 8 policemen inside his own house. That will be clearly foolish. And there is no reason to believe, from whatever we have read about him, that Vikas Dubey would be so foolish.
No One Saw Who Killed the Policemen
There is another version of story as published in Hindustan Times. It mentions, as quoted from the statement given by one of the surviving policemen, that the police team went there and it was dark, but before they could go inside Vikas Dubey's house, a hail of bullets started "from all directions" Source: Hindustan Times
Note that the policeman said two vital things:
- The Bullets came from "all directions"
- The Policemen could not see who were firing at them
In this case, there are several possibilities:
- Some other rival gang fired at the police team (less likely because the place was too close to Vikas Dubey's house)
- Some people fired at Police team mistaking them for bandits; since it was dark (Possible; since why will armed police team go to his house in the darkness of night? Remember that the Police team carried "AK47 rifles")
- Vikas Dubey's men fired at Police team mistaking them for some rival criminal group (Possible due to same reason as above)
- Some of the Policemen fired at the Police team after taking appropriate positions in the dark (Seems "movie-like" event, but anything is possible in this world).
I am mentioning above points because of two reasons; the fact that bullets came from all directions; and the fact that the policemen could not see, forget about identifying their attackers.
Why Did the Police Behave Like an Underworld Gang Seeking Revenge?
After the massacre, the police would certainly be angry. Very angry. And frustrated. Like an injured lion. An injured lion would seek "revenge". Would the Police seek revenge too? As per the law of the land and our constitution, the Police is not supposed to act in vengeance or with malice towards anyone. The police should not harm anyone without any valid reason. The police should not attack, destroy of chase anyone just for the sake of fulfilling their ego. These acts are traits of the Underworld Gangs, not the Police. But how did the UP Police behave after 2nd of July massacre? Look at the acts after this incident:
- The Police broke down Vikas Dubey's entire house (as if the house had done some crime)
- The Police started killing Vikas Dubey's relatives and childhood friends (to scare and pressurize Vikas)
- The Police arrested female members of Vikas Dubey's family and relatives (to humiliate and pressurize Vikas)
- The Police or someone started leaking images of dead family members of Vikas in social media (to intimidate and defame Vikas)
The message was clear: Vikas Dubey's days were now numbered and sooner or later he would be killed; unless if he surrendered. The plan seems to be to force him to surrender, by killing male members of his family/friends and arresting female family members. This is straight from the books of "Mumbai's underworld gangs"; or what the SriLankan forces used against the LTTE.
Did the Police Do Fake Encounters to Kill Vikas Dubey's Family/Friends?
From the newspaper reports, at least some of the encounters look like "fake encounters". Here are examples:
- Praveen Dubey was killed in Etawah when he was trying to escape after stealing a car (Source: HT). Do you believe this could be a genuine encounter? Are all car thieves killed by the police? Here is another news item from just yesterday, where another criminal named Zeeshan, who had Rs 25K bounty on his head, was "arrested" after an "encounter". Was Praveen Dubey killed to send a message to Vikas Dubey?
- Prabhat Mishra was arrested in Faridabad and was being brought to Kanpur by road in order to present him in front of Court. He was gunned down when he tried to flee from the police custody (Source: HT). According to the Police, the vehicle's Tyre got punctured and while the policemen were trying to repair/change it, Prabhat tried to run away and hence the Policemen killed him. Sorry mates, this is too much of a filmy story. In movies, the policemen purposefully let the criminal flee in an isolated place, so that they can chase and kill him. Prabhat Mishra was a young man with mustache barely starting to come.
- Amar Dubey, who was Vikas Dubey's nephew, was killed at a rural place which looks like an isolated spot too (as per video shared on Rediff iShare). Amar Dubey was a young man and he had just got married 9 days back. UP Police would know that since they were chasing him down. It was a heartless killing of a young man who could have been reformed, if arrested and let him serve legal punishment.
Long List of Police Brutality as Part of the Violent Witch-Hunt
- In next few days after the incident, total 5 close friends/relatives of Vikas Dubey were "killed" by the Police
- Vikas Dubey's house was totally demolished and flattened to the ground. As per newspaper pictures, it seems some property and items were damaged too
- Prem Prakash Dubey and Atul Dubey, two of the "uncles" of Vikas Dubey were "killed" by the Police
- Amar Dubey, who was "nephew" of Vikas Dubey was "killed". Amar had just got married 9 days back. The charge on Amar was that he used to do illegal extortion from wine shops; hardly a crime which needed him being shot dead
- Amar Dubey's "wife" (widow now) was "arrested" along with some other female family members. "Mother" of one associate Heeru Dubey was also arrested. And mother of Dayashankar Agnihotri was arrested
All such "killings" and "arrests of female family members were perhaps meant to act as "pressure technique" to force Vikas Dubey to surrender. Were all such encounters and killings really needed? If all these things would still have been done if Vikas Dubey was arrested on day 1? Most probably, "no".
By Being Killed, the Young Men Lost a Chance to Reform
If the police had managed to arrest these men, who were in the prime of their youth, these could get a chance to reform and rehabilitate after serving their term in the jail. Countless men have reformed after doing a crime, that is why we have jails all over the world. It is not necessary to kill all criminals to get rid of them. India's law also required UP Police not to kill these men. God knows, if they were genuinely killed in real shoot-outs of if they were killed in fake encounters. But this was not their "age" to die.
The Police Were Clueless About Vikas Dubey's Where About
It seems the police were clueless about Vikas Dubey's where about after the incident. Initially, the report said that he had fled to Nepal. But then he was spotted in Faridabad which proved initial report wrong. Then he was said to be near Noida Film City and hence Police went there. But he surrendered in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. His run is one of the most interesting ones, like a movie. He seems to be travelling like James Bond 007 or other detectives and secret agents!
Vikas Dubey's Surrender and the Aftermath
Vikas Dubey went to Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, visited the deity and then surrendered to the policemen there. By his images, he does not look like any dreaded criminal (after all, he was a mafia or strongman doing illegal mining). He had a pot belly (which was ridiculed by many on social media) which is common for people in his age. He did not look like the criminals shown on TV, neither he was a monster which the media had tried to show him as.
The fact that he chose that place to surrender tells that he wants to survive. He chose a public place to surrender and in the neighboring state of MP, so that the UP Police does not do his fake encounter. UP Police may feel slight shame in that.
The fact that Vikas Dubey was arrested by MP Police and not by UP Police in UP, is a big ego-destroyer for UP Police. You let the demons loose, kill anyone who sounded close to the man, arrest women family members which even underworld dons do not do often, and then the man is arrested elsewhere by someone else! I hope UP Police does not take it otherwise but behaves in a professional manner after this.
The Bigger Conspiracy Against Vikas Dubey Is Still Hidden
It is easy to understand that the bigger conspiracy against Vikas Dubey is still unexposed. It can't be possible that the Police of 5 police stations went to arrest him because of a "bike theft". He had not done any new crime. State was already under corona virus related lockdown condition. It is difficult to believe that in these difficult times of corona virus spread and Lockdowns, the Police would wake up, remember some old case, go visit his house 3 times to probe him, including going in such a dark night that they won't even get to see who are shooting at them? This story is unbelievable. Real facts of the whole story should come out, starting from the reason why the Police of 5 police station went to his house in the dark night armed with AK47.
The Dent on UP's Image: UP Was supposed to Bring Industries from China
Over last few years, the law and order condition in UP has improved a lot. Crime graph has come down. Yogi Adityanath and his government seems to be doing a good job. But this singular incident, even if it was supposed to be pro-government, has gone totally wrong. UP has lost the perception battle.
Just think about the time before 2nd of July. What was the vibe that UP was sending? There were primarily two things:
- UP had done a great job in containing Corona virus crisis; also helped its migrants very well
- UP had made policy changes to encourage foreign industries fleeing from China to setup base in the state
But due to this Vikas Dubey incident getting too much media coverage and hype over the last 2 weeks, the scenario has totally changed. Now, what is the buzz from UP?
- UP is crime-infested land where there are plenty of criminals
- Everyday news of some Police encounter comes from UP
- People are not safe in UP
- The UP Police does fake encounters and kills people
- UP suffers from criminal-politician nexus
After this bloody witch-hunt, "Jungle Raj in UP" was tending on Twitter; which summed up results of the "perception" war.
This whole crime, violence, revenge and impressions of "Police Raj" has harmed UP's desired image of a "safe investment destination". People know that one Vikas Dubey gone does not matter much, since there are plenty of others like him. But what does "UP" mean to outsiders? Does "UP" mean "Business" or does it mean "Crime"? The answer, at the moment is obvious.
I can only hope that the UP government would be watchful about the messages that are sent to the whole world when such a violent government-sponsored witch-hunt starts. It is much better to handle things in a mature manner. Even if it takes time, proper justice and legal system should be followed. People should look at events and say that they have "faith in the system". Targeted killings, fake encounters, female family members of criminals being arrested, these are not the things which can bring pride to either the UP Police or the Yogi Adityanath's government in the state.
If Yogi Adityanath is cut for the PM's role, which I believe he is, he needs to prove that he can manage things without perceptions of complete chaos and lawlessness being sent to the entire world through media. Yogi needs to win the perception war too, apart from the fight against crime.
Post Script: As per a breaking news just now, Vikas Dubey's "wife" and "8 year old son" have been "arrested" in Lucknow for giving help to Vikas. This has happened even after Vikas Dubey was arrested this morning. That reminds me of another dialogue from a Hollywood movie. Someone said, "If you chase demons for too long, you would become a demon yourself". The heads of the Police force should be watchful if their team is witnessing total moral degradation. That would be a worse shame than not being able to capture a criminal or losing a few men in the line of duty.
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