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Police in Uttar Pradesh, it is reported, shot a 38-year-old man Vivek Tiwari, who had been working as area sales manager with Apple, for not stopping his vehicle when asked to by a couple of policemen. The incident reeks of police high-handedness and attempts to cover-up something blatantly wrong. Assuming that Tiwari was indeed at fault for not stopping his car when asked to do so, the action of the police appears to be one of disproportionate use of force. According to Tiwari’s widow, attempts were being made to weaken the case, to malign her late husband’s character and to dissuade her from pursuing the matter. The police were cornered when the complainant raised the point that the case was weak as the accused cops were not named in the FIR filed by the original complainant and sole witness to the incident, Sana Khan, a colleague who was with Tiwari in the vehicle when the incident happened. Also, the sequence of events described in the document was ‘vague’. Sana has stated that she merely signed the document prepared by the police. Going by the account of this witness, the two policemen involved in the incident stand in the crosshairs of suspicion. The question arises as to what the cops had found so threatening in the action of Tiwari that prompted them to kill him.
The Uttar Pradesh government has in recent times been seen to encourage the police to adopt any means they deemed fit in the line of duty. The governance has been termed by many as ‘Encounter Raj’. Such an approach to crime is not new in India. The commercial capital of the country, Mumbai, was released from the grips of the underworld through a ruthless application of state force which saw the likes of Daya Nayak emerge heroes. The reign of terror unleashed by the state was not without collateral damage. Those same ‘encounter specialists’ were later exposed as paid killers too.
The cop in the Uttar Pradesh incident claimed that he opened fire at the Apple employee as he felt the man was trying to run him over with his XUV. But the police brass has faltered after backing the cop’s claim immediately after the incident as a result of constant media badgering.
The government of Uttar Pradesh has announced an ex-gratia of `25 lakh and a clerical job for the widow of Tiwari with Lucknow Municipal Corporation. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also offered to transfer the case to the CBI if the family so desired. But such actions cannot actually remedy the loss of a life.
That is not to say, though, that it is okay for a person to drive away despite being asked to stop by a policeman. It is equally important that citizens abide by law and respect its representatives. However, any one who has encountered such incidents of policemen asking motorists to stop without reason also know that the same representatives of law often turn out to be ruthless and more often than not with a criminal bent of mind. The indiscretion shown by the driver in not stopping the vehicle may be questioned but shooting him dead can never be justified.
What is worrying about the incident is that it is also indicative of the kind of fear that the police has sown in the hearts of common citizens with regard to their safety. It shows the police are not being seen as protectors but as a threat. The application of lethal force may seem effective in fighting crime in the short run, but will only pave the way for violations and corruption in due course. The police will have to exercise discretion and extreme caution in the use of such force. It is a lesson that has been repeated in numerous instances but is yet to be learnt. Doing a Duterte in Uttar Pradesh is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Sadly, this is the same state of affairs with the police all over India, including Orissa.
