At least eight police personnel, including Deputy SP Devendra Mishra, were killed and four were injured after they were fired upon by criminals when the police team had gone to raid an area in search of a history-sheeter Vikas Dubey in Chaubepur in Kanpur in the early morning of Friday.
Senior Superintendent of Police and Inspector General is present at the spot, and forensic teams are examining the area.
The raid was carried out at 1 am on the intervening night of July 2-3 in Bithoor area in Chaubepur.
1 DSP, 3 Sub-Inspector, and 4 constables were among those who died of bullet injuries.
The other injured policemen were rushed to a nearby hospital in a critical state.
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Late at night, the police team arrived at an area in search of the notorious history-sheeter Vikas Dubey. But to the police team's surprise, they were ambushed by Dubey's men who were prepared with arms on the roof of a building and shot at them.
Moreover, the unidentified criminals had already stationed a JCB machine on the road to block the police team in its pursuit, the police said.
The police further believe that criminals were aware of the police raid, and were on high alert.
The criminals managed to flee from the spot after the attack on the police team.
Vikas Dubey, a notorious criminal, carries a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head. He has also been a former member of the district panchayat and has at least 53 cases of murder attempts against him.
The area has been cordoned off and a search has been launched to arrest the culprits.
Additional DGP Kanpur Zone Jai Narayan Singh confirmed the death of eight police personnel, adding that the others who were injured are in a critical state. The police team comprised of 15-16 personnel.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his condolence to the families of the 8 Police personnel who lost their lives. He has directed DGP HC Awasthi to take strict action against criminals.
