Vikas Dubey, accused of killing eight police officers, dies in India shootout while trying to flee custody

A man accused of killing eight police officers in India was shot dead Friday while allegedly trying to flee custody after his arrest, authorities said.

Vikas Dubey had been on the run for almost a week after he and his associates allegedly killed the officers in a shootout at his house in Kanpur, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on July 2.

Dubey was arrested Thursday in the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh. Officers were driving him back to Kanpur early Friday when the vehicle overturned in heavy rain, police said.

Dinesh Kumar, senior superintendent of Kanpur Police, told CNN affiliate news 18 that Dubey snatched a gun from an officer and made a run for it. He was shot dead in a shootout with police.

“The police chased him and surrounded him and asked him to surrender, but he did not accept and started firing at the police team. The police team fired back in self-defense,” Prashant Kumar, the Additional Director General of UP Police, said at a press briefing Friday.

Police are investigating the incident, and no independent inquiry has been announced.