Kanpur, Sep 2 (IANS): Policemen at a police station in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district organised a "havan" to put a check on the spiralling crime graph and "ward off evil spirits", following the Bikru ambush that claimed the lives of eight personnel and injured seven others on July 3.

The havan was held on Tuesday. The entire staff posted at the Chaubeypur police station had been removed following the incident.

Police personnel at the station said that a local priest had advised them to regularly perform puja to free it of evil spirits.

"Many opersonnel had complained of feeling uneasy during duty hours, so we thought that a havan may improve the atmosphere. We have arrested all the accused in the Bikru massacre and we want to put the past behind us," a police official said.

Almost all the duty staff, besides some local villagers, participated in the havan.

A priest performed the "puja" and chanted mantras to convince the staff that the police station has now been cleared of evil influences.

While the havan was being held, none of the policemen attended to the complainants who waited for the puja to be over.

Officiating in-charge of the Chaubeypur station, D. Chaudhary, told reporters: "The havan was performed for the purity of the police station."

Eight policemen, including circle officer Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in the Bikru village in the Chaubeypur police area in Kanpur when they had gone to arrest gangster Vikas Dubey who opened fire on them.

Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter on July 10 while five of his accomplices were also killed in police encounters.

The remaining have either been arrested or have surrendered.