Kanpur: One DSP and seven policemen were shot dead early hours on Friday at a village in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The policemen had gone to arrest a criminal wanted for murder, the policemen arrived to indiscriminate firing from all sides by the criminal and his associates.

A Deputy Superintendent of Police, Divendra Kumar Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables were killed in Dikru village, which is 150 km from state capital Lucknow. Two of the shooters were killed by the police. A notorious gangster Vikas Dubey is an accused as many as 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting. The gangster Vikas Dubey is a politically connected criminal is a wanted accused to the police. t

Teams from three police stations had gone to the village to conduct a raid was planned at his village after he was accused in a fresh attempt to murder case. According to the Kanpur SP Dinesh Kumar, “The intention was to arrest him. There was an ambush. The firing by criminals was from three sides and it was totally planned”. According to a statement by UP Director General of Police (DGP) HC Awasthi, Vikas Dubey and other men had put up road blocks on the routes that lead to the village.

A bulldozer blocking the road indicated an organized ambush. Once the cops removed the blocks and managed to get to the village, they were fired at from rooftops by shooters who were ready for them. Visuals from a nearby hospital showed ambulances bringing in wounded policemen. A road taken by the policemen when they were attacked is splattered with blood. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths and asked for a report on the incident amid questions about lack of proper planning by the police teams who went after Vikas Dubey.

The UP police chief has been directed to take strict action against criminals, said a statement from the Chief Minister’s office. Vikas Dubey has a long history of crime, including an alleged role in the 2001 murder of a BJP politician who was chased and shot dead inside a police station; he was acquitted in that case.