Lucknow: An Apple executive was shot dead by the police in Lucknow on Saturday after he refused to stop his car despite being instructed to do so.

This shocking incident was reported from Gomti Nagar area of the city at around 1:30 AM. The deceased, identified as Vivek Tiwari, was travelling with a woman colleague when the police officers, apparently noticing "suspicious activity" signalled him to stop the car. However, Tiwari tried to flee, following which police constable Prashant Chaudhary took out his service pistol and shot at him. As a result, Tiwari lost control of the vehicle and hitting the constable's motorcycle before ramming his car into an electricity pole.

Tiwari was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

An FIR has been lodged and the policemen involved have been arrested.

“We saw a suspicious car. The lights were off. When we reached the car, whoever was inside it started the car immediately. We parked our bike in front of the car. He hit our bike. I waved at him to stop but he reversed the car and hit us again. We asked him to come out. But he reversed for the third time and hit our bike with full force. I fell and then got up. I drew my pistol to scare him. When he tried to run over me, I had to shoot in self-defence," constable Chaudhary said.   

The slain techie's female colleague, who is the only eyewitness in the incident, said, "I am not in a condition to say anything right now. Even I want the culprit to be punished. I am under no pressure to hide the truth." 

“Despite being shot, he tried to drive but in the process, the police officer's bike was hit. After travelling for a few meters, the car rammed into the pole," the woman was quoted as saying by News18.

"This is a sad incident. A case of murder (section 302 IPC) has been registered against the two policemen. Stringent action will be taken," said Anand Kumar, UP ADG law and order. 

"Post-mortem report establishes a firearm injury from a bullet on the left side of the chin, viscera of the victim has preserved. Thorough investigation is being conducted to establish the sequence of events," Kumar added.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by DGP Uttar Pradesh to probe the matter. The team will function under the chairmanship of IG LKW, while the SP crime and SP RA LKW will also be a part of it. 

Kalpana Tiwari, the wife of the slain techie, was distraught. "Police had no right to shoot at my husband," she said and demanded an answer from Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. 

"Was he a terrorist that police shot at him? We choose Yogi Adityanath as our representative, we want him to take cognisance of the incident and also demand an unbiased CBI inquiry," said Vishnu Shukla, the brother-in-law of deceased youth.

Yogi Adityanath assured that a CBI inquiry would be ordered if needed. "It was not an encounter. An investigation will be conducted in this incident," he said.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister on the issue and discussed the legal actions being taken against the erring policemen.