Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, under fire over the alleged killing of an Apple executive in Lucknow by a policeman, reiterated that his government will not tolerate such criminal offences.

“It is a very sad incident. Such criminal offences will not be accepted by government,” Adityanath was quoted as saying by ANI.

“Immediate action was taken; the accused arrested and case registered. For the family of the deceased, the government will provide all kinds of aid needed by the family,” the CM said.

On Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya met the family of Vivek Tiwari and offered his condolences to the bereaved members.

“The government is saddened by the incident and stands with the family. Immediate steps are being taken to ensure similar incident does not occur in the future. We will severely punish those responsible,” Maurya was quoted as saying by ANI.

The Deputy CM assured the family that the government and his party will extend all possible help to the family and ensure that justice is delivered.

Meanwhile, MLA from Hardoi’s Shahabad, Rajani Tiwari, has written letter to Yogi Adityanath questioning police proceedings in the case.

She asked how the accused cop came to file an FIR and issued a statement to the media when the Police department claimed before the media that he had been arrested.

“Tiwari’s daughter said that DM told family that such incidents happen. Accused who should’ve been arrested was demanding to file FIR. It shows insensitivity of administration and police. Action must be taken against them,” Rajini Tiwari was quoted as saying by ANI.

The ADG, Lucknow zone, Rajiv Krishna, who met the family today, said that stringent action will be taken in the “serious incident”. He added that strict instructions have been issued to all officers of the police force to ensure that a similar incident does not occur again. He added that there has been a serious lapse in the manner in which the accused cop got an opportunity to speak to the media.

Earlier today, two Cabinet ministers in Adityanath’s government met Tiwari’s family.

Minister of Law and Justice Brajesh Pathak and Minister of Technological and Medical Education Ashutosh Tandon spoke to Tiwari’s family at their residence a day after the state government came in for severe criticism over the killing of the 38-year-old man who is survived by his widow and two children.

Read More: Cabinet ministers meet Vivek Tiwari’s family, SIT visits crime scene

Speaking to reporters, Krishna said that the family has been provided 24-hour police protection but reiterated that a CBI probe will be initiated if the family demands.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Lucknow IG Sujeet Pandey, which was constituted on Saturday to probe the incident, arrived at the spot where Tiwari was killed in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar extension.

Tiwari’s widow, Kalpana Tiwari, had on Saturday demanded a CBI probe into the incident. The family demanded a job for Kalpana and appropriate compensation.

In a letter written to the Chief Minister, Kalpana had demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job as per her educational qualifications.

The incident

Vivek Tiwari, an assistant sales manager for Apple India, was allegedly shot dead in the wee hours of Saturday by one of the two cops on patrol duty. The alleged shooting took place at around 1:30 am in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area.

The policeman shot at a car on noticing alleged suspicious activity, injuring the driver of the vehicle which then rammed into a wall. The incident happened when Tiwari was heading home after the launch of iPhone X plus with a female colleague.

Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar, the policemen accused of shooting Vivek, were arrested and charged under Section 302 of IPC. The UP Police immediately ordered a SIT investigation into the Vivek’s death.

Chaudhary, who allegedly shot Tiwari, claimed that the Tiwari tried to run over him and he acted in self-defence.

“I didn’t shoot at him. The bullet was shot by mistake. He hit me with his car and drove it over me three times with the intention to kill me. I demand that my FIR must be registered,” Chaudhary was quoted as saying by ANI.

But Tiwari’s colleague, who was with him at the time of the incident and was injured, said that the police waylaid them and tried to stop them forcefully.

“The police just waylaid us and tried to stop us forcefully. Sir (Vivek Tiwari) didn’t stop the car. We didn’t realise who they were. There was no accident. We were trying to leave from the side. We hit the bike but they had already gotten off the bike. One of them had a lathi. The man in the front just threw a revolver and fired,” NDTV quoted the colleague as saying.