Family claims gangster Dubey was not home during firing

A woman relative, possibly his sister-in-law, told TV channels that Vikas Dubey had not come home since the past two days and it was the police that fired at the house in the wee hours of Friday.

Two other members of the family who refused to identify themselves, said that 'some people' may have come on their roof during the incident but Vikas was not present.

The local villagers, meanwhile, also claimed that they were not present in the village when the firing took place.

"I thought it was a tyre-burst," said one while the others claimed that they were sleeping in the fields and learnt about the incident in the morning.

None of the villagers admitted to knowing Vikas Dubey personally or having seen him in the village.

Dubey, sources said, owned about half a dozen properties in the village and wielded tremendous clout in the region as well as in the corridors of power.