The vehicle carrying gangster Vikas Dubey had overturned due to a herd of cattle coming suddenly in front of it and as the driver tried to turn it quickly, UP Special Task Force (STF) said on Friday.
It said in a press release that the Dubey was being brought by its Lucknow team under the guidance of Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Tejbahadur Singh using a government vehicle.
"During the journey, in Sachendi police station jurisdiction of Kanpur district on the national highway, a herd of cattle came on the road. The driver, tired by the long journey, suddenly tried to turn the vehicle to avoid an accident with the mals due to which the vehicle lost its balance and overturned. Due to this sudden accident the police officers, personnel sitting in the vehicle received grievous injuries," the note said.
"Vikas Dubey, who was sitting in the vehicle, tried to take benefit of this sudden situation by snatching the pistol of Inspector Ramakant Pachauri, got out from the government vehicle and started running on the `kaccha road'," it said.
The police said that DSP Tej Bahadur Singh, along with other officials in other vehicles, reached the spot and ordered the personnel to pursue the fleeing Dubey.
"Dubey started firing on the police party with an intent to kill from the snatched pistol. With no other recourse in hand, the police team too fired back in self-defence in a controlled fashion. The accused Vikas Dubey got injured in the retaliatory firing by the police team and fell down. After being administered first aid, he was taken to a government hospital where he was declared dead by doctors after examination," the note said.
It also said that Head Constable Shivendra Singh Sengar and Constable Vimal Yadav were injured in the firing by Dubey and they are receiving treatment for their injuries.
Dubey was arrested by the police in Ujjain on Thursday morning. He was on the run for the last six days and had come to the city to offer prayers at a temple, where he was identified by a security guard.
The gangster is the main accused in the encounter that took place in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him.
Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.
Dubey managed to escape after the killing. The Uttar Pradesh police launched a hunt and raised the bounty on him to Rs 5 lakh.
( With inputs from ANI )