The car in which Vikas Dubey was being taken overturned on the highway.
Gangster Vikas Dubey was shot dead when he tried to escape after a road accident while being taken to Kanpur, the Uttar Pradesh police said on Friday. In a statement, the police said they had tried to get Vikas Dubey to surrender but he fired at them, forcing them to retaliate.
The car in which Vikas Dubey was being taken, one of three in the convoy, overturned on the highway and he tried to escape after snatching a gun, according to the police
"The car overturned and policemen and the accused were injured. Then Vikas Dubey snatched a gun from an injured policeman and ran. The police team caught up and surrounded him and tried to get him to surrender, but he refused and started firing. The police had to fire back in self-defence," the Kanpur police said in a statement.
"Vikas Dubey was injured and taken to hospital. He died during treatment," said the statement.
The police version came as questions were raised on the encounter, the latest of several over the past few days.
Over the last week, five of Dubey's aides had been killed.
"Actually, the car didn't topple. The UP government has been saved from toppling by secrets that would have been revealed," tweeted Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav in Hindi.
The former Chief Minister had also demanded to know yesterday whether Vikas Dubey's arrest was, in fact, surrender.
"There is news that the main accused in the Kanpur case is in police custody. If this is true, the government should clarify whether it was a surrender or an arrest. Call records should be made public so that those who colluded with him are exposed," Mr Yadav had tweeted on Thursday.
Vikas Dubey was arrested on Thursday morning at the famous Mahakal temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. He was spotted by temple security guards when he bought prasad and entered the temple. When he was confronted by the guards, he lashed out and was taken to the police.
Hours before his arrest, two of his accomplices had been shot dead by Uttar Pradesh police in separate encounters.