Indirapuram: Woman cab driver found burnt in car dies, family alleges murder

Four days after a 25-year-old woman Ola cab driver was found inside her car with severe burn wounds at an underpass on NH-24 in Indirapuram, police on Thursday said she has succumbed to her injuries at a Delhi hospital. According to police, the parents of the victim — identified as Renu Chaudhury — have alleged that she was murdered by a relative who lives in Noida.

Beena, the victim’s mother, alleged, “The man had been troubling Renu for the last couple of weeks. A fortnight ago, he snatched her mobile phone away in a market in Sahibabad. When my husband and our neighbour tried to catch hold of him, he said he would return the phone only if she comes to his house in Noida, before fleeing.”

The family also claimed that the man had called up Renu on the pretext of booking a cab on the night of June 24. “When she left home around 10pm, we got two calls. While one was from an unknown number, the other one was from Renu’s own mobile phone. In the first call, the man on the phone said that Renu was near Pari Chowk. In the second call, from Renu’s mobile number, the caller told the family that she was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Noida,” the mother said.

Anil Kumar Shai, SHO, Noida Sector 39 police station, said that the family visited his station since the alleged suspect is a resident of Chhalera in Noida. However, after a preliminary probe by Noida Sector 58 police, the matter was referred to Ghaziabad police.

Sub-inspector Ashok Kumar from Noida Sector 58 police station, who conducted the initial investigation, said, “After being informed about the incident, I went to the private hospital in Noida where the victim was rushed to after the incident. I met the person the woman’s family is alleging to be the murderer. He told us that the woman tried immolating herself in her car near the underpass. He also claimed that he broke the window of the car, pulled the woman out and rushed her to the hospital.”

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad SSP Vaibhav Krishna said he has directed a team to look into the incident and collect evidence.

However, maintaining that no booking was made from the Ola platform on the night of the incident and the driver had not been active for the past three months, an Ola spokesperson said, “We are shocked and saddened to know about the unfortunate development. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family. We hope the culprits will be speedily brought to justice.”