LUCKNOW Nearly eight years after Apple sales executive Vivek Tiwari was shot dead during a late-night patrol, the district judge’s court in Lucknow on Monday sentenced dismissed constable Prashant Chaudhary to 10 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on him.
The former cop had already spent around eight years in jail. On September 17, the court had acquitted the second accused Sandeep Kumar in the case.
District judge Malkhan Singh also ordered to set off the period Prashant Chaudhary already spent in jail. As Chaudhary spent eight years in jail since 2018, he will be in prison for two more years.
Holding the act punishable under Part-II of Section 304 of the IPC, the court said Chaudhary fired with knowledge that such an act was likely to cause death, but without intention to cause murder.
The court observed that on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2018, while patrolling Gomti Nagar Extension area on a bike, constables Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar came across an SUV on a deserted street and signalled it to stop on suspicion.
Vivek Tiwari, who was driving, tried to flee, accelerated and hit the police motorcycle, then reversed and again hit the motorcycle, stated the court in its order.
{{/usCountry}}Vivek Tiwari, who was driving, tried to flee, accelerated and hit the police motorcycle, then reversed and again hit the motorcycle, stated the court in its order.
{{/usCountry}}Prashant Chaudhary, who was in front of the car, apprehending danger to his life, fired from his service weapon at the front windscreen, which hit Tiwari’s face causing his death, said the court.
The verdict left the victim’s family disappointed. Wife of deceased, Kalpana Tiwari, had earlier expressed anguish over Sandeep’s acquittal and said she would challenge the verdict.
Tiwari, 38, an Apple sales executive and resident of New Hyderabad Colony, was returning home in his SUV after attending a late-night office gathering on September 30, 2018. His former colleague Sana Siddiqui was travelling with him.
Around 1.30am, near the Makdoompur police outpost in Gomti Nagar Extension, motorcycle-borne constables Prashant Chaudhary and Sandeep Kumar signalled the vehicle to stop. According to the prosecution case, when the vehicle did not stop immediately, the policemen chased it and Chaudhary opened fire.
The bullet struck Tiwari below his chin and his SUV subsequently collided with a divider. He was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead. Sana, who was in the vehicle, became a key prosecution witness.
The incident triggered widespread public outrage and intense scrutiny of police conduct and the use of force.
Chaudhary claimed that he had fired in self-defence, but the police charge sheet rejected that explanation and originally charged him with murder. Both constables were arrested and dismissed from service.
The prosecution examined eight witnesses, including Sana, Tiwari’s wife Kalpana Tiwari, police personnel, doctors who conducted the medical and post-mortem examinations, a city magistrate and the investigating officer. The trial stretched over the years, with the investigating officer’s evidence recorded between February and October 2024. The final arguments were completed this year.
Sandeep’s case had also followed a separate legal trajectory. Police investigation had initially attributed the fatal shooting to Chaudhary and booked Sandeep for causing hurt.