A huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered during a search operation from the residence of Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case in which eight policemen were killed, said Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday.
The modus operandi of Dubey is similar to that employed by the Naxalites, BK Srivastava, SP Kanpur Rural told mediapersons here.
"A huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the residence of Vikas Dubey, during search. Some of the weapons recovered are licensed under names of people associated with him, but they were used by Vikas. This is similar to how naxals operate," he said.
Acting on information that illegal weapons and huge quantities of explosives were hidden at Vikas Dubey's house, police conducted a search operation and recovered 25 cartridges, 2 kg explosives, and 15 live bombs, the SP said.
"Heavy explosives were kept there, it could be so powerful that it would blow up the whole house. He has about 12 licensed weapons in his family. Vikas Dubey used to issue arms licenses in the name of people living with him and then used them for himself. Dayashankar, who was injured in a police encounter today, is also one of them," he said.
According to sources, Dubey's last location was traced in Auraiya and it is suspected that he might have gone to Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, crossing the Uttar Pradesh border.
The Uttar Pradesh Police has contacted the police of both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Even after 60 hours, the UP Police and ATS have not yet discovered anything about the whereabouts of Dubey, sources informed.
Dubey is the main accused in the Kanpur encounter case, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team which had gone to arrest him late on Thursday night. Eight policemen were killed in the incident.
The district administration had on Saturday demolished the house and visuals showed cars and other vehicles in the premises of the building complex being crushed by machines.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier announced Rs 1 crore each ex-gratia for the families of the policemen who were killed in the Bikaru village encounter.
( With inputs from ANI )