Kanpur: Nearly six years after the Bikru massacre, a Kanpur court on Monday reserved its judgment in the State vs Daya Shankar Agnihotri case, in which the accused, an alleged member of gangster Vikas Dubey’s gang, is facing trial on charges of attempt to murder and under the Arms Act.The arguments concluded on Monday and the verdict will be pronounced on July 27.The case is linked to the aftermath of the Bikru massacre, which took place on the night of July 2, 2020, in Bikru village under the Chaubeypur police station area of Kanpur Nagar. Gangster Vikas Dubey and his associates allegedly ambushed a police team that had gone to arrest him, killing eight police personnel, including deputy superintendent of police Devendra Nath Mishra.Following the ambush, Vikas Dubey went into hiding before being arrested about a week later. He was subsequently killed in a police encounter on July 10, 2020. In Sept 2023, a special Gangsters Act court convicted 23 members of Dubey’s gang and sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment.According to Assistant District Govt Counsel Sanjay Jha, Daya Shankar Agnihotri was an active member of the Vikas Dubey gang. After the Bikru massacre, he allegedly absconded and was later arrested following a police encounter during the intervening night of July 4 and 5, 2020, in which he sustained a bullet injury to his leg.In the present case, Agnihotri has been charged with attempt to murder and offences under the Arms Act. Police had allegedly recovered a country-made pistol and cartridges from his possession. The FIR in the case was registered at Kalyanpur police station.The trial court framed charges against the accused on Jan 8, 2021. During the trial, the prosecution examined nine witnesses, concluding its evidence on April 15, 2023, after which the accused’s statement was recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
