Apple executive’s murder: SIT recreates sequence of events at crime scene with accused cops

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of UP Police probing the alleged murder of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, took the two accused constables to the crime spot early Sunday to recreate the sequence of events.

The police carried out a similar exercise on October 2 in the presence of Sana Khan, the sole eyewitness of the case.

The accused constables who are now in police custody were brought in an SUV and were questioned about the incident by Inspector General of Police (Lucknow Zone) Sujit Pandey who is heading the SIT.

The officer was accompanied by Inspector Mahanagar Vikas Kumar Pandey who is the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case. The exercise began at around 1:52 am. “We wanted to see the conditions that would have been there at the time of the incident. So we decided to hold this exercise around the same time the incident occurred,” explained Pandey.

The shooting took place around 1:30 am on September 29 when constable Prashant Chaudhary along with another constable - Sandeep Kumar aka Sandeep Rana- on a police motorcycle intercepted the SUV of Vivek Tiwari and allegedly shot him dead in cold blood with his service pistol.

The SIT team arranged a similar SUV and police motorcycle for recreating the scene. The accused constables were brought to the crime spot in another SUV that was kept some 60 metres from the scene of shooting.

A team of forensic unit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani along with other officials and a large number of constables were also present at the spot. The forensic team took measurements and photographs during the exercise.

Rana, the constable who accompanied Chaudhary was bought first to the crime spot at around 2:05 am. Once the sequence of events was recreated as per his statements, the main accused Chaudhary was asked about his version at 2:30 am and the sequence was recreated once again.

The SIT did not allow the accused constables to step out of the vehicle they were brought in. “We kept the constables inside the vehicle to avoid and disturbance or legal tangle later,” said the IG.

The officer shared the details of the sequence with the IO, SSP and members of the forensic team after the recreation. The exercise lasted for around 50 minutes after which the accused constables were taken to Gosaiganj police station.

The SIT was formed to probe the case following a severe backlash after the shooting. Vivek Tiwari (38), was returning from a launch event of new IPhones with his former employee Sana Khan when the incident occurred. The accused constables came from the opposite direction towards Vivek’s SUV and shot at him. The bullet pierced Vivek’s chin but he managed to drive the SUV for around 350 metres before colliding with a pillar at an underpass of Shaheed Path. He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injury.

Prashant Chaudhary initially claimed that he opened fire in self defence but later changed his statement claiming the shot was fired accidentally.