The passenger was allegedly beaten up because he did not have change to pay the fare of Rs 10. (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)
THE THANE police detained two autorickshaw drivers Tuesday and are on the lookout for three more who allegedly beat up a passenger over change of Rs 10. After the man was beaten up, locals at the Gaodevi area of Manpada overpowered one of the drivers and handed him over to the police. A police patrol van was also attacked by locals.
Zonal deputy commissioner Dr S Swamy said the incident took place around 6.15 pm Tuesday, when a youngster, identified as one ‘Mhatre’, was ging to the Gaodevi in a share auto. Mhatre and the auto driver had an argument over change as the fare for the ride was Rs 10, while the passenger had a Rs 50 note.
“As per Mhatre, the auto driver beat him up and also called four other drivers. All of them hit him. There are nail marks on Mhatre’s neck,” Swamy said. The locals present at the spot intervened and saved him. One of the auto drivers was overpowered by the locals who then took him to the Naupada police station.
“Another accused was later tracked down by police teams. We are in the process of registering an FIR against the accused. We are also on the lookout for a few more drivers,” said Swamy.
On June 17, two auto drivers were arrested from Dombivli for allegedly kidnapping a girl and molesting her. Prior to that, two drivers from Thane allegedly molested a woman in a moving autorickshaw, pushed her out of the vehicle and fled on June 7. They were arrested earlier this week.
