Vivek Tiwari’s murder: UP Police issues rare apology, calls killer constable ‘rogue’

On Saturday, the police arrested constable Prashant Chaudhary and his colleague Sandeep Kumar after allegations that Chaudhary shot the executive, Vivek Tiwari, when he did not stop his auto after he drove it into a patrol motorcycle.

Constable Prashant Chaudhary noticed “suspicious activity” and opened fire when Tiwari allegedly tried to speed away.

State police in September invited journalists to film a confrontation between police and two armed men in Aligarh city in which the two men were shot dead, according to media reports. When asked to stop by two policemen on a bike, Vivek reportedly refused to comply and instead tried to ram his vehicle on the bike of these policemen. The accused police personnel claimed that Tewari’s auto hit them but have not yet explained why they had to shoot him to deal with the situation.

The autopsy report had later confirmed the death was caused by gunshot injuries. Reportedly, the police left the victim to die, and Sana had to get the help of some truck drivers to him to the hospital. “One of them then fired from a pistol”.

A case of murder under IPC Section 302 was registered and the two cops were arrested and dismissed.

Vivek’s grief-stricken wife Kalpana suggested that some cops may have driven and crashed the vehicle in a desperate, heat-of-the-moment scheme to pass the death off as a road accident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the state would investigate the incident and would hand over the case to the federal police if required.

Earlier on Sunday, members of the Special Investigation Team formed to investigate the case and a forensic team recreated the scene of the incident.

In her letter MLA Rajani Tiwari questioned the functioning of the UP police, saying that the style of policing is giving a bad name to Yogi government. After that, I started calling him continuously on both his mobiles – both of which were functioning but no one picked up. I got a call from the hospital only at 3am, saying my husband had been admitted with minor injuries. “As I was a lot scared, I wrote whatever they asked me to”.

At the meeting, which took place in a sombre atmosphere, an official told IANS that the distraught widow broke down many times and wondered aloud how she would bring up her daughters in the absence of her husband. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to corner the BJP government in the state and said he also spoke to the victim’s wife Kalpana over phone. “It will also give clarity on the intention and motive behind the murder”, said Pandey. Kalpana said. “Vivek called me that night and promised to take us for a vacation in December as two new iPhones were launched and he said the market response was very good”.

In February, the commission said the state’s police officers were “feeling free, misusing their power in the light of an undeclared endorsement given by the higher ups”.