After a heated chase lasting almost a week, police in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have arrested alleged gang kingpin Vikas Dubey on Thursday morning for the killing of eight policemen during a raid last week. According to the police, Dubey was arrested in the city of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
According to a senior police officer from Ujjain, "Dubey had reached Mahakal Temple to offer prayers when the temple guards alerted us. A team was send and he was nabbed." Since the last week's incident, police have killed several of Dube's alleged accomplices in encounters.
State police across the country were put on high alert in order to bring him to justice, and a bounty of US$6,667 (Rs 500,000) was put on his head.
Dubey, who has been charged in 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting, had allegedly been tipped off about the raid by local policemen and had set up an ambush.
The chief minister of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, had promised crack down on criminal gangs during his election campaign. The politically-sensitive statetheir is reportedly home to several criminal gangs, who are said to indulge in extortion, land grabbing and murder.
After Yogi Aditynath became state chief, police mounted pressure on criminal gangs, and many were arrested and jailed, while others were reported to have given up criminal activity.
Uttar Pradesh tops the chart in terms of rape and other crimes against women, children and senior citizens, as per the national crime records bureau (NCRB).