UP cops to protest against arrest of colleague in Apple employee's murder

Prashant Chaudhary (in orange)

New Delhi: The battle lines are drawn and men in khaki in the state of Uttar Pradesh are all set to stage a protest against the arrest of their colleague in the murder case of an Apple executive.

Constable Prashant Chaudhary has been accused of murdering Vivek Tiwari during a night-checking in Lucknow last week. While the cop claims that it was Tiwari who hit him with his car, the sole eyewitness in the case - Tiwari's co-passenger - has said that Chaudhary fired without warning.

While UP police is facing flak since the incident, cops in the state largely feel that their lives matter as well. "Why is my FIR not being registered. Do our lives not matter," asked Chaudhary. Now, he is reportedly getting the backing of his colleagues who have been wearing black armbands to work everyday and have even said they would go on an indefinite fast.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath has attempted to douse the fire by saying that the incident was not an encounter. Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh however has said it was a case of murder and had added that such incidents won't be tolerated. An SIT has been formed to investigate the incident.