Notorious gangster Vikas Dubey, the principal accused in the cold-blooded ambush and murder of eight policemen last week in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, was seen in a hotel in Haryana's Faridabad on Tuesday, sources have said.
On Tuesday afternoon, a man - arrested during raids at a hotel in Faridabad - told police that Vikas Dubey had left the hotel before the cops reached, according to sources. A CCTV footage recovered by police shows a man who resembles the gangster
Two cities in Haryana - Faridabad and Gurgaon - near Delhi are on a high alert and the Delhi Police has also been alerted amid speculations that the notorious criminal may surrender in the National Capital Region.
The bounty on the wanted gangster, who has been missing since Friday's massacre, was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh from one lakh on Monday.
An aide of the UP gangster - Amar Dubey - was shot dead early Wednesday morning during an encounter by UP's Special Task Force (STF) in Hamirpur district, about 150 km from state capital Lucknow.
On Friday, 50 policemen from three stations had gone to UP's Bikru village in Kanpur, 150 km from state capital Lucknow, in search of the politically-connected and wanted gangster charged in 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting.
A raid was planned at his village after he was accused in a fresh attempt to murder case.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police, Devendra Kumar Mishra, three sub-inspectors and four constables were killed during the ambush by the gangster and his aides who had put up road blocks on the routes that lead to the village. Once the policemen managed to get to the village, they were fired at from rooftops by shooters who were ready for them.
Amid allegations that Dubey, said to be in his 50s, was tipped off about the raid on Friday by insiders, 68 policemen have been removed from Kanpur's Chaubeypur police station.
The principal accused's Bikru village comes under the jurisdiction of the Chaubeypur police station.
Anant Deo, a former chief of the Kanpur police who allegedly ignored a letter from a junior officer complaining about the nexus between policemen and notorious criminal Vikas Dubey, has also been transferred by the UP government.
Mr Deo -- a Deputy Inspector General with the STF -- was the police chief in Kanpur three months ago. He allegedly ignored a letter, supposedly written in March by Devendra Mishra, the Deputy Superintendent of Police who was murdered on Friday.
In the letter, the officer had flagged that policemen, especially Vinay Tiwari, the Station Officer of Chaubeypur police station, were helping the gangster. The letter had also warned of a "big incident" if the complaint was ignored.