What’s the real story behind Tiwari’s killing?

MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED Shockers, rims of police patrol bike found to be intact, as per findings by SRTC team

LUCKNOW: Did the two constables accused in Vivek Tiwari murder case walk away leaving behind their patrol motorcycle on the spot after it was allegedly hit by the SUV or they called up another vehicle to assist them?

Neither the accused constables – Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar – nor any official associated with the probe has given any clarification on it so far.

In either case, the sequence of events is incomplete, and may not reveal the real story behind Tiwari’s killing.

There are many such unanswered questions even after 10 days of investigation by the police and special investigation team (SIT).

According to the initial statement of the accused and the crime scene preserved by cops, the constables left behind the motorcycle on the spot after being hit by Tiwari’s SUV in Gomti Nagar extension, but it is not clear how they left the spot after that.

The patrol bike was found in a damaged condition with its front facing towards Shaheed Path (right direction) when media and other senior officials reached the spot on September 29 morning after coming to know about Tiwari’s killing.

This is not the only point that raises doubt over the police theory.

There are many other reasons to believe that cops at Gomti Nagar police station and some other police officials allegedly tried to manipulate facts and tamper evidences in favour of the two constables.

The statements of the lone eyewitness Sana Khan also suggest that the facts and evidences were manipulated to prove that the constables opened fire on Tiwari, after he hit the patrol motorcycle.

If members of the state police motor transport (MT) wing, who carried out a technical examina- tion of Tiwari’s SUV, are to be believed, the SUV would have been damaged from the left side if it had hit the patrol bike.

But a technical examination suggested that the damage caused to the SUV was mainly due to collision with the pillar of the under pass of Shaheed Path and not while trying to hit any motorcycle.

A source said the damages to the SUV were caused mainly due to collision with the pillar, as mostly its right side and front were damaged and both airbags of the front seats were open.

The opening of airbags also suggests that both Tiwari and his ex-colleague Sana Khan, who was the co-passenger in the SUV, were wearing safety belts. The airbags work only when occupants are wearing safety belts.

The technical examination of the police patrol motorcycle is still being carried out by experts of UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).

Initial findings by the team raise suspicion on the damages caused to the two-wheeler as the bike’s shockers and rims were found to be intact.

“It is common phenomenon that when a motorcycle is hit by a heavy vehicle like an SUV, the first impact is on its handle, shocker and rim. However, the left side of the bike’s handle, shockers and its rims were not found damaged,” said one of the experts.

The expert reiterated that there are remote chances that these things remained undamaged even after being hit by the SUV or being run over by it.

Constable Prashant Chaud- hary, who allegedly opened fire on Tiwari, had earlier claimed that he fired in self-defence when the SUV rider tried to run him and the patrol bike over. He had later stated that the pistol went off accidentally when he took it out to warn Tiwari and stop his SUV.

In her statement, Sana Khan had also mentioned that the SUV just grazed the motorcycle when Tiwari tried to move on when cops tried to intercept his vehicle.

She reiterated before the police and media that constable Prashant Chowdhary opened fire on Tiwari without any provocation.

There are several other points like delay in carrying out medical examination of the two accused constables that raise apprehensions that the police tried to tamper evidences and manipulate facts since the beginning.

The two accused were sent for medical examination on Saturday morning – nearly around eight hours after Tiwari was shot at around 1.30 am on Friday-Saturday night.

Prashant Chowdhary’s uniform and service pistol were also allegedly sent for forensic and ballistic examination after a delay of around four days.

Moreover, the police hurriedly filed an FIR showing Sana as the complainant when Vivek Tewari’s wife and family members had already reached the hospital.

Suspecting foul play, Vivek Tewari’s wife, Kalpana, had already questioned the police’s intentions, saying cops should have asked the family to lodge a complaint when she and other family members had reached Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital around 3 am on Saturday.

Tewari’s colleagues alleged that the police intentionally made Sana complainant in the FIR so that they could mount pressure on her to turn hostile in the case during the course of investigation.

They said the police knew that the family would pursue the case properly and would not turn hostile or succumb to any pressure.

Sana also alleged that she was first taken to the Qaiserbagh police station from the hospital and kept there for a few hours before again being taken back to the Gomti Nagar police station. She stated that accused constable Prashant Chowdhary’s wife Rakhi Malik, who is also a police constable, accompanied her along and was questioning her all through during police detention.