Salesman robbed and pushed out of moving ‘shared taxi’ during ride home

GURUGRAM: A 31-year-old man was pushed out of a moving car after his phone and cash were snatched by the three men inside it, on the expressway last Friday.

Around 9.30pm, Dinesh Kumar Gautam, who works as a saleman in a mobile phone showroom, took a lift in a car from Ambience mall for Gurgaon bus stop, thinking it was a shared cab. He lives in Saraswati Enclave, Sector 10.

Once Gautam was in the back seat, the man in the navigator's seat asked him for the fare. "I had a Rs 20 note in my shirt pocket ready to pay him, as I know the fare and have been taking lifts in shared cabs for the past eight years. They told me they would go via the Sector 31 cut, as there was a traffic jam at Iffco Chowk," he said.

"When we reached Sector 31 flyover, the man next to me in the back seat asked the driver to continue straight. As we moved ahead, the two co-passengers began attacking me. They took my phone and cash, and then pushed me out when we reached near the top of the flyover. I could not see the car's model, as it was dark," Gautam further reported.

He said he gave them his personal phone, but managed to retain his office phone. The men also snatched around Rs 2,300 he had on him. Due to the fall, Gautam sustained a serious injury to his left leg. His ankle was fractured and there were cuts on the leg. He was rushed to Tirath Ram hospital in Sector 8 by passersby, where doctors recommended surgery. A metal plate was fixed to his ankle. On Monday, doctors allowed him to approach police, when he filed a complaint.

"I was lucky. The car was slow when they pushed me out, else I wouldn't have made it," he said, speaking to TOI from hospital.

An FIR was registered at Sector 40 police station under Section 379B (snatching with use of force) of the IPC. "We are investigating the matter, but so far, no one has been traced," said ASI Jitender.