Vikas Dubey reached Ujjain from Rajasthan by bus: Police probe

With police hot on his heels, slain gangster Vikas Dubey had reached Ujjain from Rajasthan by bus, and took a dip in the Kshipra river here before reaching the Mahakaleshwar temple where he was eventually arrested last week, investigations so far have revealed.

Various details emerged as police here in Madhya Pradesh probed further about his escape from Uttar Pradesh after the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed on July 3.

Dubey, the alleged mastermind of the Kanpur ambush, was killed in an encounter on Friday after he tried to flee following a road accident at Barra area in Kanpur, a day after his arrest here.

Ujjain''s Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said 11 teams were constituted to investigate how Dubey arrived here and the circumstances leading to his arrest, that ended the week-long multi-state manhunt for the gangster.

These teams examined CCTV footage of various areas and enquired with some hotels, lodges and bus owners/drivers, he told reporters on Saturday evening.

"According to our investigation so far, Dubey reached Jhalawar from Alwar (Rajasthan) in a Rajasthan transport corporation bus, Singh said.

From Jhalawar, Dubey took a private bus to Ujjain.

"After travelling on seat no. 6 of a bus from Jhalawar, he reached Ujjains Dewas Gate bus stand at 3.58 am (on Thursday). From there, he took an auto-rickshaw and reached the Mahakaleshwar temple and enquired with a couple of hotels nearby (but did not check-in), he said.

After getting to know that the temple opens around 7.30 am for devotees, he went to the Ram Ghat located near the temple where he took a dip in the Kshipra river. He then reached the temple where he was finally caught by police, Singh said.

On Thursday, police said flower and puja material shop owner Suresh Mali recognised Dubey when he was enquiring with him about the opening of the temple.

Mali then informed the police and the Mahakaleshwar temple''s security personnel about the gangster, they said.

Dubey was subsequently intercepted by the police at the temples exit gate and taken into custody.

The Ujjain police later handed over Dubey to the Uttar Pradesh Police.

Asked about statements given by Dubey during the custody of Madhya Pradesh Police, Singh said, He was a dreaded criminal and killed police personnel. His statements are useless until verified in our investigations."

To a question on one of Dubeys local contacts, the official said it was not verified so far.

"We continue to share intelligence inputs with the Uttar Pradesh Police and will do so further also as the investigations are underway," he said.

Asked if there was any evidence of Dubey talking over mobile phone during his movement in Ujjain, Singh said there was no proof of it so far.