Lucknow, Oct 1 (NIE): The wife of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, who died early Saturday morning after being shot by a police constable in Lucknow, has filed a second FIR in the case.
The new FIR claims that police officials who reached the spot did not allow Tiwari’s associate Sana Khan, who was with him at the time of the shooting, from receiving or making calls. It also accuses policemen of forcing Khan to sign on a blank paper.
Speaking to PTI, Uttar Pradesh Justice Minister Brijesh Pathak backed some of the claims, accusing 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 said.
The new FIR on Sunday was lodged by Tiwari’s wife Kalpana. The first one had been filed by Khan and named Constables Prashant Chaudhary, who is accused of shooting Tiwari, and Sandeep Kumar, who was with him. Kalpana has said in the FIR that the details of what had happened had been revealed to her by Khan.
Quoting Khan, the FIR filed by Kalpana says, “I was with my colleague ASM sir (Tiwari was the Area Sales Manager of Apple), returning home at around 1.30 am when suddenly Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar came in front of the car. ASM sir got scared and as he had a female friend with him, he tried to move his car by escaping. At the same time, the constable sitting on the back seat of (their) motorcycle and having a cane in his hand (got off) the motorcycle. Prashant Chaudhary, who was on the front seat, put his pistol against the wind shield and fired with intention to kill.”
Adds the FIR, quoting Khan, “…I cried a lot for help and tried to stop people. I tried my best to save him but the policemen that came neither (were) letting me make (a) call nor receive a call. They pressurized me to sign on a blank paper and later under the pressure of police and media officials made me write on the paper. As I was a lot scared, I wrote whatever they asked me to.”
About the new complaint, ADG, Luknow Zone, Rajeev Krishna said that Tiwari’s family had demanded one. “They said that it would be better if a family member is the complainant. This is because a family member would be more interested in pursuing the case in court if it is prolonged,” Krishna said.
Earlier on Sunday, members of the Special Investigation Team formed to investigate the case and a forensic team recreated the scene of the incident. They also inspected the two vehicles involved, Vivek’s SUV and the police motorcycle, and collected samples.