Ray of hope for Apple executive's widow after meeting UP CM

After a meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday, Apple executive Vivek Tiwari's widow Kalpana Tiwari said she sees a ray of hope as Adityanath had assured of all help and justice in the case.

Vivek Tiwari was shot dead by an Uttar Pradesh Police Constable in Lucknow on Saturday on the pretext that he did not stop his vehicle when asked to do so.

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.

He also told the family that the conduct of the killer Constable Prashant Chowdhary was unacceptable and he had been sacked and booked for murder.

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 told IANS.

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.

Dinesh Sharma had met Kalpana Tiwari and other family members late Sunday and coordinated a teleconference between them and the Chief Minister.

Clearly cornered by the horrific incident, senior officials and political leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party swung into action late Sunday night and ensured that Adityanath met the family the first thing in the morning on Monday.

Adityanath has already announced Rs 25 lakh as financial assistance to the family and a government job for Kalpana Tiwari with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation.

Fixed deposits of Rs 5 lakh each will be given to the two daughters, and another Rs five lakh has been announced for Vivek's mother.

A CCTV footage that surfaced on Monday also punctured the accused policemen's claims that they opened fire at the 38-year-old when he refused to stop the car, drove away at high speed and tried to run them over.

The footage, a police official privy to the probe ordered by the government said, showed that Vivek Tiwari was driving the SUV at normal speed and halted about 500 metres from where he was fatally shot, following which the vehicle crashed into an underpass pillar.

--IANS

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