DELHI/NOIDA/Gurugram:The murder of a driver registered with
Ola, allegedly by a passenger last Friday, triggered a series of protests on Monday by drivers associated with the cab aggregator in Noida and Gurugram and a call for stringent evaluation of passengers on the platform.
Hari Narayan Parmar, who had left home in Noida on Friday morning after a booking, was found dead on Sunday evening on a DDA plot in Delhi’s Alipur. His family alleged Hari had been strangled, saying there was a towel wrapped around his neck and his face was buried in the sand. The driver’s wallet, debit card and other valuables were missing.
Around 400 drivers protested near the MCD toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway for around 20 minutes on Monday afternoon, accusing the company of withholding information on the passenger who had booked Parmar’s cab on Friday. A similar demonstration by Parmar’s family and other drivers was organised at a CNG pump in Noida’s Sector 108.
The drivers demanded that Ola conduct a strict evaluation of its passengers and link their accounts with Aadhaar. “All our information is available with Ola but there is no information about the customer. There is no insurance for the driver or his family,” said one of the drivers in Noida. Father of three kids, Parmar had been associated with Ola for almost three years.
A statement from Ola said: “Our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones. We are deeply saddened by the incident and are currently in touch with the family and providing all necessary support. We are also extending all support to the investigating authorities to help find the culprits.”
Police said Parmar’s cab had been booked on Friday by a customer named Ashu. “The cab was booked at 10.23am in Noida’s Sector 28 and the ride was completed at 12.27pm at CPJ College in Narela. The ride was even rated by the customer. The car was booked by another passenger called Naveen in Narela but the ride was cancelled,” said Avnish Dixit, the SHO of Sector 39 police station.
Hari’s brother-in-law Satyabhan Singh accused Ola of not helping his family trace the cab after several calls made to the driver’s cellphone went unanswered and he did not return home the next day. “His wife Krishna Devi called the Ola customer care several times but they asked for an FIR to be lodged first,” he said.
When the family approached the 39 police station, they were apparently told to contact the Ola office in Noida Sector 65. “We were denied any information on the grounds that the car (HR55AA2675) was hired and not owned by Ola. We went to the company’s office in Gurugram and were told the car was near Nahari village in Haryana, a few kilometres from Narela in Delhi. They said the vehicle had been there since 11.22pm on Friday,” Satyabhan said.
The family did not find the vehicle at the location shared by Ola. It was only on Sunday that Hari’s body was found in Alipur in Narela. “He had been strangled to death with a cloth and had a head injury,” Satyabhan said.
Parmar’s death is being investigated by Delhi Police. A senior Delhi Police officer said, “We are awaiting the autopsy report to understand the cause of death. There were a few strangulation marks on the neck, suggesting he must have tried to resist.”
Representative Photo
