The death of an Apple executive exposed much that has been long wrong with the security system in Uttar Pradesh
On the ninth day of October, there were scenes of hearty celebrations at police stations across Uttar Pradesh. Not due to the upcoming Dussehra festival, but because of the news that more than 25,000 constables had been elevated to the post of head constable. The Yogi Adityanath government had implemented what was by far the biggest mass promotion ever seen in the history of UP Police.
These happy scenes were a stark contrast to the way things had been for the state police since the beginning of this month.
It all started with a diabolically grim incident that unfolded during the ungodly hours of September 29 in the state capital of Lucknow.
After the late-evening launch party of global technology giant Apple’s latest iPhone model, Vivek Tiwari, a sales manager of the company, was driving his co-worker Sana Khan back home when two motorcycle-riding constables on routine patrol tried to stop them apparently for questioning.
Fearing that they might misbehave with his female colleague, Tiwari did not pull over his SUV and kept driving. This infuriated the cops so much that they chased him down and killed him by shooting from close range at his neck.
This is the account of none other than Khan herself.
And that, among many other things, showed how the wrong on part of the police did not end with Tiwari’s death.
For starters, came blatant lies about the sequence of events that led to the tragedy. A police officer said when the constable at Gomtinagar extension signalled Tiwari to stop for checking, he tried to flee. And as he was speeding away he hit a bike, hurt the two constables on it, who then chased him to his death. The officer also claimed that constable Prashant Chaudhury had shot a bullet towards Tiwari by mistake and in self-defence, after which a scared Tiwari ended up ramming his vehicle into a pillar of an underpass, thus sustaining fatal injuries.
There was clearly an attempt, by those involved during and in the immediate aftermath of the incident, to cover up so that the constables could get away with the crime they had committed.
However, much to their credit, the police did take some prompt action.
TIME FOR CLEAN-UP
Not long after Khan filed an FIR, both constable Chaudhury and his colleague were dismissed from service and sent to jail, with the former booked for murder.
Director-General of Police O.P. Singh set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of very senior officers to probe the case, with instructions to submit a report at the earliest.
The Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Anand Kumar, not only conceded that “law has been violated in the incident”, he also rubbished the self-defence theory floated by his subordinates by pointing out that the constable could have easily fired at the tyre of the vehicle rather than at the man driving it.
Kumar went on to express regret over the “shameful incident for the police force” as initial investigations revealed that neither the two constables had any injuries nor was their official vehicle damaged.
Besides, the autopsy reports revealed that the bullet had hit Tiwari in the chin and got stuck between the neck and the head, leading to his death due to “profuse bleeding” – corroborating Khan’s first-person account and confirming the lies of the constables and their protectors.
The BJP government – both at the state and Centre – had been quick enough to take action as well
Chief Minister Adityanath confirmed before the media that the incident was “definitely not a police encounter” and that a probe had been ordered. “If needed, we will not hesitate in ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident,” he assured.
‘GOONS IN UNIFORM’
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha, also spoke to Adityanath and the DGP and took detailed briefing on the incident even as he ordered for “effective and appropriate action”.
After all, it was done by the end of the same day that the incident happened.
Yet the wrong had been far to grave to be righted that soon and that easily.
Opposition parties tore into the state government over the killing and accused it of breeding “goons in uniform”. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Raj Babbar 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.
Vaibhav Maheshwari, state spokesperson of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), also slammed the UP government and the police and accused the Chief Minister of letting loose cops on the hapless people of the state.
The AAP also took a candlelight march in protest against the incident. Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesman Udaiveer Singh said the incident exposed the lawlessness in the state under the BJP government’s watch.
What’s worse, Tiwari’s widow, Kalpana, 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 Lohia hospital.
TIME FOR CLEAN-UP
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.
According to Kalpana’s FIR, the police officials at the crime scene did not even allow Tiwari’s colleague to receive or make calls.
“We were so happy when the Bharatiya Janata Party government was voted to power…when Yogiji became Chief Minister… Was it for all this?” she said. Soon she began her protest outside their Aakash Ganga tower apartment in New Hyderabad, asking the Chief Minister to come and explain to her why her innocent husband was shot dead by policemen.
She was joined by local leaders of the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP).
Medical Education minister Ashutosh Tandon went to pacify the aggrieved family members, relatives and neighbours of the victim, but to no avail after which the district magistrate of Lucknow, Kaushal Raj Sharma, late night met Kalpana and handed her the cheque of compensation and announced that she will be given a job in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation.
It was after this that the protests were called off and the family announced that Tiwari would be cremated as per their religious traditions on September 30.
The last rites took place at the Bhainsakund crematorium amid soul-stirring scenes.
When Tandon and Law Minister Brajesh Pathak went to attend the cremation, they faced a hostile reception as angry relatives charged them with being a part of a “trigger happy” system.
MEETING THE NEEDS
Pathak had a tough time calming the relatives and he assured all possible help to them, now and always. He promised that the guilty policemen will not be spared for their criminal action.
A distraught Kalpana remained adamant that she be allowed to meet Adityanath and that the state government give her a compensation of Rs 1 crore instead of the 25 lakh that had been declared the day earlier.
“I am worried about the future of my two daughters… They have snatched away the lone bread-earner of the family. I will not relent till justice is done,” she said between sobs.
Kalpana’s crying questions were answered as a meeting with Adityanath was scheduled the very next day.
After the meeting Kalpana said she saw a ray of hope as Adityanath had assured of all help and justice in the case.
Talking to the media after the meeting, she said that she desperately wanted to meet Yogi for the past two days as she wanted not only to know why her husband was killed for no fault of his and how she will meet the challenges that lie ahead after her husband’s untimely death.
“After meeting the Chief Minister, I am confident that I will be able to discharge the responsibilities of bringing up my two children,” she said in a choked voice.
The Chief Minister assured of all help to the bereaved family and said that justice will be done at all costs.
At the meeting in a sombre atmosphere, the distraught widow broke down many times and wondered aloud how she will bring up her daughters in the absence of her husband, an official revealed.
Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma had escorted Kalpana Tiwari and her two daughters — Shanu and Shivi — to the meeting. She was also accompanied by her brother Vishnu Shukla. The Chief Minister also spoke briefly to the two daughters of Vivek Tiwari.
Apart from the already announced Rs 25 lakh as financial assistance to the family and a government job for Kalpana with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, fixed deposits of Rs 5 lakh each were announced for the two daughters with another Rs 5 lakh for Vivek’s mother.
While the slain Apple executive’s family were given justice to satisfaction, there seemed to be rising sense of discontentment elsewhere.
Hundreds of policemen and women across Uttar Pradesh protested on October 5 by sporting black bands in solidarity with the two police constables arrested. Happening despite the DGP’s warning against doing so, the protest left the state government red-faced.
The protests were result of an orchestrated social media campaign launched by policemen in support of Chaudhury and accomplice Sandeep Kumar.
Based on the directives of the DGP, two police constables were arrested from Allahabad for their call to hold a meeting to chalk out the future strategy for support to the two imprisoned constables.
A police organisation of constables had called for the black band protest after which two policemen — Avinash Pathak and Vijendra Yadav — were suspended and arrested for indiscipline.
By late night, the DGP cracked the whip and transferred Inspector in-charge of Aliganj Police Station in Lucknow Ajay Yadav, Station House Officer (SHO) of Naka Parushram Singh and SHO Gudamba Dharmesh Shahi. Three police constables who partook in the protests were also suspended with immediate effect.
Rattled by the development, Adityanath spoke to Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar and DGP Singh. Sources said data was being collected on other policemen and women who took part in the protests and by late night, action could be initiated against many other police personnel.
The protesting policemen were saying that the constables were being framed in the killing of the Apple executive while they were only discharging their duties.
JOINING HANDS
In expression of solidarity, policemen from across the state even deposited more than Rs 5 lakh in the bank account of Chaudhary’s wife, who is also in the UP Police, to bear the legal expenses for her murder-accused husband.
Three days later, the UP Police began a refresher course for its personnel aimed at their “behavioural correction”.
The 12-day course for a batch of 200 personnel got under way in the presence of the DGP. Once the inaugural course ends, fresh batches would be enrolled for the programme.
The police chief asked his men to ensure that their conduct was fair and just.
The training module also aims to sensitise the policemen about how to behave with people and function during normal and stressful conditions. It also aims to impart moral training, according to an informed official.
The police will have to course-correct and set an example by their behaviour and conduct, Singh said.
Many human rights activists, political experts and social observers have hailed this move, especially in view of the culture of “encounters” becoming increasingly prevalent in UP for quite some time. Many members of the general public, especially those with first-hand experience of the UP Police, have also expressed their views on social media about the dire need of such reform measures in the state. After all, according to official data, well over a thousand so-called encounters (extrajudicial actions) have happened in UP since the beginning of last year, out of which around 35 have resulted in deaths. Besides, the state accounts for almost a third of all encounters happening across the country.
With the announcement about the mass promotion of police constables just a day after the start of the “behaviour correction” course, the UP government seems to be making a smart and sincere effort to keep all sides happy as it does the right thing for the state. While it is a positive start, the powers that be must persist with the necessary reforms long enough to get the right kind of culture deeply embedded in the system – just so innocent lives such as Vivek Tiwari’s are never again lost in vain, and mass promotion of police constables in UP can be viewed without raised eyebrows.
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