New Delhi: The Allahabad high court on Tuesday, September 21, denied bail to two officers of the Uttar Pradesh police accused of leaking information to criminal Vikas Dubey in the lead up to the police raid to apprehend him, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava noted that it was “evident” that the two officers, station officer Vinay Tiwari and sub-inspector K.K. Sharma, had prior information about the police raid and had leaked said information to Dubey.

The police raid had taken place on July 3, 2020 in UP’s Bikru village. When police arrived at the area, they were met with a prepared gang of criminals who allegedly opened fire on the police, leading to the deaths of eight officers and injuries to several others.

Dubey, who had escaped the raid, was later apprehended in Madhya Pradesh and was killed in another encounter on July 10. 

According to the UP police, the vehicle carrying Dubey toppled over when the driver swerved to avoid a herd of cattle. In the confusion, Dubey, the police claimed, managed to steal a revolver from an officer, ran, and was gunned down by police.

This sequence of events offered by police has been challenged on various public fora. Police was, however, given a clean chit by the three-member judicial commission investigating the encounter, though the panel said it had found that local police had colluded with Dubey.

Also read: UP Police Affidavit on Vikas Dubey Encounter Puts Supreme Court Between Rock and Hard Place

Tiwari and Sharma had been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 147, 148 and 149 (which deal with rioting), 305 and 307 (related to murder), 504 and 506 (related to criminal intimidation), 332 and 333 (relating to harm caused to a public servant), among others, Live Law reported.

The investigating officer (IO) of the case, after speaking to several witnesses, found that the officers in question had a “close friendship” with Dubey and his gang.

While denying bail, Justice Srivastava remarked that the actions of the accused led to the “horrendous” incident where several police personnel lost their lives and went on to note that the accused may have also wanted to settle a personal grudge with the circle officer who was killed in the ambush.

The court took several factors into account while denying bail, including the failure of the two accused to participate in the raid or provide support to other officers, the findings of the IO, the magnitude of the situation and the general conduct of the accused before and during the incident.

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