Beyond Hollywood and Bollywoord movies: Real life cops and gangsters encounter
Letter from New Delhi
By Kul Bhushan
The cops and gangsters encounter in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, last week surpassed all Hollywood and Bollywood movies. Usually, the cops lay the trap for gangsters but Vikas Dubey, the dreaded don, turned the tables on cops. On 3 July, when he came to know from his police informers that a police party of 50 policemen and officers was coming for him to his home in a village near Lucknow, he left nothing to chance.
A huge excavator was parked near his home, blocking the narrow road. Sharp-shooters were stationed on all house tops on the approach road. The informers fed him by the second about developments: number of cops, number of vehicles, types of guns, time of departure, progress at every landmark.
Finally, the police party reached the village and found the road to his house blocked by the huge, yellow excavator. As the vehicles stopped, all lights in the village went off. In darkness, the police started to walk towards his home and that’s when the shooting started from the house tops. Eight, yes eight, cops, including two senior officers, were killed. Many more were injured before the shooting stopped. Vikas Dubey and his henchmen dumped their guns in the nearby well and ran away.
On 4 July, the Station Officer of nearest police station was suspended after his role as an informer was ascertained. The police razed his home to rubble and discovered guns and ammunition. His three cars were crushed and mangled. Now the hunt for Dubey started. On 5 July, the police caught one of his assistants, killed him in a shootout. On 6 July, three more policemen were suspended for tipping off Dubey. On July 7, Dubey’s relative, neighbour and domestic help were arrested. Next day, 8 July his relative and bodyguard died in another encounter.
But Dubey was not traced for five days although his photo with a big reward was displayed at all toll stations and many public places. On 8 July, Dubey turned up at a hotel in Faridabad, on the outskirts of Delhi, as he tried to check-in, the receptionist asked for his identity card and refused. He escaped. Early morning on 9 July, Dubey was recognised by a flower seller at the famous Maha Kaal Temple in UIjjain, Madhya Pradesh. The flower seller alerted the temple guard who phoned the police. When Dubey emerged after his prayers, the guard accosted him, a scuffle followed and the police arrived at the same time. He was nabbed.
Uttar Pradesh police was contacted and a party arrived to transport him back to Lucknow. On 10 July, the party left for Lucknow by road. As they approached the city, it was raining heavily; strong winds were blowing and the car carrying him hit a road divider and overturned. Dubey attempted to escape after snatching a pistol from an officer and started shooting, the cops returned fire. He was shot dead after four bullets hit him in the chest and one on his arm. Two policemen were injured and later treated in a hospital.
Dubey’s reign of crime, extortion, kidnapping and murder for more than two decades ended. A major criminal gang has been demolished by strong and decisive action by UP Chief Minister, Yogi Aditya Nath, who has a striking resemblance to Hollywood’s ‘Fast and Furious’ star, Vin Diesel. But all this is real life, not a movie.
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Exploring and discovering inner space during pandemic
What a horrendous start for the new decade! The dawn of 2020 has brought more disruption, violence, political unrest and terror. And if all this was not enough, we have a global pandemic that threatens our very lives all over the world.
Without firing a single bullet, it has brought the world to a standstill. 571K lives have been lost and there are to date 12.9 million confirmed cases and more millions exposed to this killer disease.
Meditating – Taking off into inner space with meditation like Buddha. Joy Sangeetam goes deep into his inner self
24-hour TV news channels, newspapers, emails and social media posts on our mobiles keep bombarding us with this silent, fatal threat. Afraid and confined to our homes, we are shaken with daily news of what’s going on.
How do we cope with all this? Do we have the extra power to survive? How can we increase our emotional and mental strength? Where can we get the extra energy to face it all? How can we recharge our batteries to cope with this external disaster?
These questions have very easy answers which we all follow. Just escape. Whether it is a short break in a movie or a sports match on TV, a regular escape in drinks or playing cards, but we have to return to face the grim reality of our survival.
So, isn’t it more sensible to seek a durable solution to our personal challenges? Is it reading books, watching TV serials/movies all the time to escape from ourselves? Why not go inwards for real rest and re-charge? But what’s the way out? Osho says, “In the inner world no effort is needed. Once you start slipping withinwards, you suddenly see everything is happening as it should. Life is perfect. There is no way to improve upon it. Then celebration starts.”
Once you explore and discover your vast inner space, you are beyond your sex, physical age and all your limitations. You have left your external world far, far away with all its suppression, violence, hatred, crime, perversions and greed. As you go deeper and inwards, you discover that you are formless and can fly – indeed float – in this very, very private space where you do not need any rockets to propel you. Here is total freedom! And while you experience all this, you are re-energized, rejuvenated and revitalized. You get almost unlimited inner strength to face the turmoil all around you.
Once you meditate, you begin to start to smile, laugh a lot, sometimes dance, frequently sing, and love much more; and it all leads you to witnessing everything without involving yourself. Including this pandemic.
As long as you are breathing, everything if fine. Breathing means you are alive, healthy and active. With the awareness of meditation, you explore new universes of your inner space and get re-charged.
Kul Bhushan worked as a newspaper Editor in Nairobi for over three decades and now lives in New Delhi
* Published in print edition on 14 July 2020
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