Cabbie misbehaves with woman passenger, held

BENGALURU: An Ola driver was arrested for abusing a 22-year-old woman passenger and threatening her with dire consequences, when she objected to his behaviour.
The cabbie, Mahadev, was arrested on the basis of a complaint from the student, and produced on Thursday before a court, which remanded him in 14 days in judicial custody. Mahadev was booked for outraging the modesty of a woman, under IPC section 354.

The student said she booked the cab from near SBM Circle on KG Road around 4.15pm on July 10, and she and her mother were waiting for the vehicle to arrive.

“I booked the cab (KA 41-C-0101) to Malleswaram. The app showed that the waiting charges had already begun. I called the driver and asked him how the waiting charge could begin even before I had entered the cab. By then, the cab had reached the place where we were standing. The driver, whose name showed in the app as Vishal Parik, immediately cancelled the booking and started abusing me in filthy words. When we resisted, he took out his sandal and rushed towards me. Passersby intervened and sent him away,” the complainant said.

Upparpet police said they arrested the driver based on the vehicle description provided by the complainant. “There is a difference in the name given by the victim, and the man arrested. We suspect that the driver who had registered himself with Ola, was not the one who misbehaved with the student. The confusion will be clear when the woman comes to identify the driver,” police said.

OLA SPEAK

“Any kind of rude behaviour by driver partners is not tolerated on our platform. We strongly urge our driver partners and commuters to maintain mutual respect for each other. While the incident is being investigated internally, the driver’s access from the platform has been revoked. The safety of customers comes first at Ola, and we will continue to extend our full support for the investigation against the said driver,” an Ola spokesperson said.

TAXI TROUBLES

July 4, 2018: An Ola cab driver kidnapped a lone woman passenger bound to Kempegowda International Airport, but she was rescued by motorists who saw her banging on the cab windows after the Trumpet Intersection on Ballari Road. Police probe revealed that the culprit was a substitute for the original driver.

June 1, 2018: An Ola driver was arrested for allegedly stripping and misbehaving with a woman passenger by locking her inside the vehicle. The woman flew to Mumbai and emailed her complaint to city police.