Two Cabinet ministers in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government met the family of Vivek Tiwari, the Apple techie who died after being allegedly shot by a cop on 29 September, in Lucknow.
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.
The ministers were seen consoling the aggrieved family. They assured Tiwari’s family of necessary action in the case.
Besides the Cabinet ministers, senior UP police officials including ADG Lucknow Zone Rajiv Krishna met and updated the family members of the progress in the investigations.
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.
Quoting the ADG, ANI reported, “Twenty-four-hour police protection will be given to family. CBI inquiry will be initiated if family asks for it. SIT investigation will be taken forward on the basis of fresh FIR that will be lodged by family.”
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.
On Saturday, Lucknow DM Kaushal Raj Sharma said that all the demands made by Tiwari’s family have been sanctioned in writing. He said that a compensation of Rs 25 lakhs will be given to the family.
“All demands of the family sanctioned, given in written. If they want CBI enquiry, then it will be initiated. Job will be given to his wife and Rs 25 lakhs will be given as compensation. Enquiry will be completed within 30 days,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
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.
Tiwari’s brother said that the family will take the body of the slain techie to Yogi Adityanath’s residence if the Chief Minister did not visit them.
“We’re waiting for Yogi-ji to come here else we’ll take Vivek’s body to his residence. If he can’t come, we’ll go,” Tiwari’s brother was quoted as saying by ANI.
Kalpana has accused the police of being “trigger-happy”. She told reporters that the police had only informed her of “an accident” and that her husband had been taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.
When she reached there, along with her two daughters, they were told that Tiwari “had died due to excessive bleeding”, she told the media, adding the bullet angle was not even revealed to the family. The couple had spoken on the phone minutes before the accident.
In a letter written to the Chief Minister, Kalpana had demanded a CBI inquiry, a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job as per her educational qualifications.
Read More: Apple techie killing | Opposition slams UP govt, DM says all demands sanctioned
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, have been arrested and charged under Section 302 of IPC. The UP Police immediately ordered a SIT investigation into the Vivek’s death.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav continued his charge on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on Sunday.
Addressing reporters on the sidelines of an event, Yadav accused the government of conducting “fake encounters” in the state.
“Unfortunate, can’t imagine such an incident,” he said commenting on Tiwari’s killing.
“But what else will you expect from BJP government in UP? There have been numerous fake encounters under this government,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
He had on Saturday posted a tweet demanded Rs 5 crore compensation for Tiwari’s family.
“The UP government should shed its unsympathetic attitude and give written guarantee a government job for the wife of the deceased and Rs 5 crore financial assistance for future the children. Only those with families know what familial responsibility means. We are with the aggrieved family in this hour of crisis,” he wrote on Twitter.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Raj Babbar has demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the UP Chief Minister on the senseless killing.
“If people are not safe in the constituency of the Union Home Minister, one can very well gauge the situation elsewhere in the state,” he said.