Kanpur, July 7: Kanpur police is on hot pursuit of Richa Dubey, wife of Uttar Pradesh's most wanted gangster Vikas Dubey, who killed eight policemen within hours.

Richa Dubey is said to have fled the house in Bikru village with her son, minutes after the bloodbath early on Friday.

Sources said that the police have recovered her mobile phone during a search of the house and it has been found that the phone was connected to the CCTVs installed in Dubey's house. Kanpur Encounter: Reward On Head of Gangster Vikas Dubey Increased to Rs 2.5 Lakh, Says UP DGP.

"Apparently Richa kept a watch on the house and the activities there even when she was not in Bikru village. She may have used the mobile to delete footage.

"Earlier, in 2017, when Vikas Dubey was arrested by the STF, she had released the footage on social media in an obvious attempt to save her husband, as she pre-empted the possibility of Vikas being killed in an encounter," said a member of the police investigating team.

The police have already contacted all relatives of Richa but she is nowhere to be found, even though she is a member of the zila panchayat.

A local resident, on condition of anonymity, said that Richa stayed mostly in Kanpur city but kept tabs on the activities in the house through her mobile phone.

"The servants and other workers were always wary of 'Bhabhiji' because she would check on them at regular intervals. If they lied to her on anything, she would pull them up. She supported her husband and his activities. She never interacted with women in the village," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 07, 2020 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).