The family of Vivek Tiwari, the apple executive who was shot dead allegedly by a policeman on 29 September in Lucknow, met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday.
Following the meeting, Tiwari’s widow, Kalpana, said that the CM assured all assistance to the family which has “strengthened” her faith in the state government.
“He heard what I had to say and assured help. I had earlier also said that I have faith in our state government and today that faith has strengthened,” Kalpana Tiwari was quoted as saying by ANI.
Kalpana had demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident. In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, she had also demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore and a job in accordance with her educational qualifications.
According to an official spokesman, in his meeting with Kalpana and other members of her family, the CM termed the killing as extremely sad and offered his deepest condolences to them.
He assured that the strictest possible action will be taken against the culprits. Directives to this effect have been given to the Home department and also the state police. Investigations by the Special Investigation Team constituted for the purpose under IG (Lucknow) had already begun.
The CM assured the bereaved family members that the government would always be ready to help them.
An economic assistance of Rs 25 lakh would be given to the widow in addition to a job at the Lucknow Nagar Nigam the CM assured the bereaved family members. In addition a fixed deposit of Rs 5 lakh each in the name of the two daughters of Vivek Tiwari will also be handed over to them.
The techie’s mother will also be provided with economic assistance of Rs 5 lakh. Yogi Adityanath directed the officials that residential provision be also made for the family of Vivek Tiwari.
The meeting came a day after the CM spoke to the family on phone during which he told Tiwari’s widow that the government will provide all help needed by the family.
The CM, who was in Gorakhpur at the time of the incident, had issued a statement condemning the killing and assuring all assistance to Tiwari’s family. He had said that the incident was not an encounter and ordered action against the accused cops.
“It was not an encounter. An investigation will be conducted in this incident. If needed, we will order a CBI inquiry into the incident,” he told reporters.
On Sunday, Adityanath reiterated that his government will not tolerate such criminal offences and stressed on his commitment towards ensuring justice for the family of the 38-year-old man.
“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 and offered his condolences to the bereaved members.
Read More: UP Deputy CM meets Vivek Tiwari’s family, assures justice
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.
On the same day, two Cabinet ministers in Adityanath’s government also 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.
Pathak had reportedly accused the police of “hushing up” the killing.
“The lone eyewitness was kept in police custody for nearly 17 hours and her signature was taken on a plain piece of paper. The FIR was not registered the way it should had been. There is no consistency between the statement of Sana (who was accompanying the victim) and the FIR. And efforts were made to hush up the case,” he was quoted as saying by PTI
BJP MLA from Hardoi’s Shahabad, Rajani Tiwari, wrote a letter to Adityanath on Sunday 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 had already said 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 on Sunday, 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.
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.