Apple executive murder case: Eyewitness records statement before court, SIT expedites probe

Five days after the murder of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, the Lucknow police on Thursday got the statement of the lone eyewitness Sana Khan recorded before a judicial magistrate.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) also expedited its probe into the case by recording the statements of the two accused constables, Prashant Chowdhary and Sandip Kumar, in jail. Moreover, the SIT collected CCTV footage from three more places.

Station House Officer of Mahanagar police station Vikas Pandey, who is the investigation officer (IO) of the case, said the statement of Sana was recorded before the court of additional civil judge (senior division) Anju Kannuajia and further legal proceedings are being carried out.

While coming out of the court, Sana told media persons that she had narrated the entire incident before the court. “I told each and everything to the court that I wanted to tell about the incident,” she emphasised and added, “I have faith in the police and they are providing me proper security.”

Inspector General (IG) of Police Lucknow Range Sujeet Pandey, who is heading the SIT, said the six teams constituted for the purpose are busy collecting every minute detail and evidence related to the incident before reaching a final conclusion. He said one team visited the Lucknow district jail and recorded the statements of the two accused constables.

Pandey said another team had collected CCTV footages from three different places on Wednesday itself and it was analysing it. “We are analysing the footage and trying to connect it time wise to get a clear picture of the sequence of events. The footage from at least two such cameras show Vivek’s SUV moving slowly towards the crime spot moments before the incident,” he added.

The IG said footage from the CCTV installed at a government building hardly 30 metres from the crime spot was very vital.

“We are preparing a point-wise list of every statement given by the eyewitness and the accused constables. The contradictory points are also being listed and they would be cross-questioned after analysing the facts,” Pandey emphasised.

The IG said so far the team is not focused on forming any opinion over the entire incident otherwise the probe will get biased. He said a conclusion will be drawn after analysing each and every fact, including forensic as well as ballistic reports.

The IG said the uniform worn by the accused Chaudhary at the time of the incident has already been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Lucknow and added that the pistol used by the cop, the bullet recovered from Tiwari’s body and the bullet casing were also sent for ballistic examination. Both reports are awaited, he added.

Vivek was shot dead in Gomtinagar extension when he was going to drop his ex-colleague Sana Khan in his SUV, at around 1.30 am on Friday/ Saturday night. Sana had told police and media persons that Vivek was shot dead when the two constables Chowdhary and Sandip Kumar intercepted their vehicle. She said the Chowdhary opened fire with his service pistol when Vivek tried to move on from there fearing that the constables may misbehave with her.