30 Bikru massacre accused booked under Gangster Act

The Kanpur police has invoked Gangster Act against 30 aides of slain don Vikas Dubey, involved in the killing of eight policemen in an ambush in Bikru village on July 3.

According to SP (Rural) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, the arrested accused have been slapped with the Gangster Act as the probe has confirmed that "they conspired as a gang to commit anti-social and anti-government activities, thereby causing panic in the public".

The gang has been accused of killing eight policemen, including deputy SP Devendra Kumar Mishra and three sub-inspectors, and injuring seven others in Bikru village on July 3.

SSP/DIG Preetinder Singh also confirmed that the Gangster Act has been slapped against the 30 accused, who are in jail, following the order of the district magistrate.

"A separate FIR under the relevant sections of the Gangster Act has been lodged against the jailed accused," he said.

Under the Act, an administrative officer can order attachment of movable and immovable property if there is enough evidence that it was acquired by a gangster as commission for an offence.

The police had charged 36 persons in the case. Six of the assailants, including Dubey, were killed in encounters between July 3 and 10.

The accused also included four women -- Kshama Agnihotri, Rekha Agnihotri, Shanti Dubey and Khushi Dubey, minor wife of Vikas's aide Amar Dubey.

The women, however, have been excluded from the Gangster Act since their husbands are already accused in the case.