New Delhi: History-sheeter Vikas Dubey was arrested today in the morning at the Mahakal temple in Ujjain. Police had been searching for the elusive gangster for almost 6 days after the deadly shootout in Kanpur in which 8 police officers lost their lives. He was last spotted at a hotel in Faridabad. According to reports on July 7, Dubey stayed at an OYO room in Faridabad’s Badkhal Chowk under a false identity. As per the hotel staff, Vikas had identified himself as Ankur but he managed to escape before the police had a chance to catch him.
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On Wednesday, CCTV footage emerged that showed Dubey waiting near the road for someone. The footage was from a camera placed in a sweetshop and it had a good view of the highway. The video recorded was from Tuesday and the time was around 3.13 PM.  In the video, Dubey waits for about 5-6 minutes when an autorickshaw arrives and he boards the vehicle and leaves. The video also shows that someone is already present in the auto. The police claimed that they had seen the man near the border but could not recognise him as he was 'wearing goggles'. Meanwhile, Amar Dubey, a close aide of the gangster was killed in an encounter with Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Hamirpur on Wednesday. Very soon another one of his ally Shyamu Bajpai was also arrested in Chaubeypur area.

There is no information yet for the time between the sightings at Faridabad and his arrest in Ujjain in the morning today.  But considering the last place he was spotted was in Haryana, one can note that he surprisingly traveled 773 kms (by road) smoothly crossing borders and several check-posts to reach the Mahakal temple in Ujjain.

In the morning around Dubey arrived at the temple at 8.30 am and paid Rs 250 for puja items before entering the premises. A security guard had asked him to remove his face mask and that is when he was recognized and caught.With most of his close aides killed, it is possible that Dubey was fearful for his life and was seeking divine intervention. Ujjain Collector Ashish Singh said Dubey was spotted first by a shopkeeper at the temple complex.



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Some people have raised questions about the arrest and have also said that it was a way to save him from being killed. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asked the government to clarify whether it was surrender or an arrest. He also demanded the call details record of Vikas to be revealed so that his underground links can be exposed.