LUCKNOW: In a past midnight incident, a constable of UP police deployed in patrol duty allegedly shot dead an assistant sales manager for Apple Inc. on Friday at 1:30 am in Lucknow, police said.
Vivek Tewari, 38, was on driver's seat in his SUV with his ex-colleague Sana Khan when the incident took place as he allegedly rammed a police patrol motorcycle. Tewari was rushed to the hospital immediately but he succumbed during treatment.
Tewari was injured in the neck region as the constable had fired on the windscreen of the vehicle. After the post-mortem examination, it came out that Vivek had sustained a gunshot in his chin and excessive loss of blood could be one of the reasons for his death.
ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar said: "The post-mortem report establishes a firearm injury from a bullet on the left side of the chin of deceased. The Viscera of the victim has been preserved for further investigations." He added a thorough probe was being conducted to establish the sequence of events.
However, constable Prashant Kumar, who fired at the car, and his colleague Sandeep Kumar, were arrested after police registered an FIR on Sana Khan's complaint. As per the sources, the police have asked Sana to be indoors till further orders.
The sources said that Vivek was returning home after the launch of a new model of his company's mobile handset. He was supposed to drop Sana at her place also situated in Gomtinagar area. While Vivek's wife Kalpana Tewari, raised questions over the police action and demanded an explanation from Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, SSP Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani claimed that the constable (Prashant Kumar) fired in self-defence believing that some criminal was there in the car which was parked in Gomti Nagar extension area with Vivek and Sana inside it.
"As the police patrol party confronted Vivek, he tried to flee the spot and hit the patrol bike in nervousness. Consequently, constable Prashant Kumar opened fire to stop him," said the SSP adding that the deceased panicked so much after firing that he lost control over the wheels and rammed the SUV into the pillar of an underpass.
However, finding the constable at fault, UP DGP OP Singh said the initial probe suggested that constable Prashant Kumar acted wrongly. "As per the initial findings, it appears that the constable acted beyond the limit of self-defence," said Singh, adding that the case of murder was filed against the erring cop, he had been arrested and a fair investigation would be conducted into the incident.
Tewari, who basically belonged to Sultanpur district, is survived by his wife - Kalpana Tewari-- and two daughters. Speaking to the media persons, Tewari's wife raised serious questions on the police action. "What kind of law and order situation is this?" she asked.
Kalpana added that if he was found in an objectionable condition with his lady colleague in his car as was claimed by the cops, who gave them the right to shoot him. "They could have arrested him and initiated legal proceedings but why did they shoot him?," asked the wife. UP ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said the accused cops were booked under Section 302 of the IPC.
Investigations were underway and strict action would be taken against those found guilty, the top cop said. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya too assured action against those responsible for the incident.
"Probe is on. If an innocent has been killed by the police, action will be taken against him," he added. On the other, kin of deceased has demanded a CBI probe into the incident to maintain the fairness of inquiry. "We have chosen CM Yogi Adityanath as our representative. He should take congnizance of the case and recommend a CBI probe into the issue," said Vishnu Shukla, Tewari's brother-in-law.