Police in India have arrested a man in connection with the killings of eight policemen earlier this month.

Vikas Dubey, who was on the run for nearly a week after the incident, was held in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The policemen were fired upon during a raid in search of the notorious local gangster in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh last week.

Mr Dubey has 60 criminal cases against him for various offences, including attempted murder.

Media reports say that he was spotted near a temple in the city of Ujjain early on Thursday by a local shop owner, who alerted the police.

The gangster was arrested when he emerged from the temple.

“He produced a fake ID card and then there was a fight. The guards got him to the police,” a police officer was quoted as saying by the NDTV news network.

• Eight India policemen dead in gang shootout
• Locals beat wife of hostage-taker to death

Local news networks have been closely following the case, ever since the shootout last Friday killed eight police officers. Pressure has also been mounting on local law enforcement to arrest him.

Two of the gangster’s aides have been killed in clashes with the police since then.

A police inspector belonging to a police station near Mr Dubey’s village was also arrested over allegations that he helped him.

Officers had been looking for Mr Dubey in connection with a case that had registered against him earlier in the week when they were fired upon.

Police said that although they had returned fire, they suffered heavy casualties as the gang members had been firing on them from a height.