Yet another incident of assault by a cab driver has come to light after an Uber driving partner punched a 23-year-old passenger en route Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) due to payment issue on October 3.
The incident took place at Mahadevapura when Aneek Roy, hailing from Kolkata, refused to pay a higher price upfront, after which the cabbie, Harish KS, punched him, breaking his nose. The victim is a resident of Mahaveer Tuskan Apartment in Hoodi and is working as a techie at Whitefield.
According to the police, Roy had booked an 'Uber Pool' (share cab) to go to the airport. But when the cab arrived, Harish asked him a higher fare in advance, which was the rate for 'Uber Go'. Roy refused on making the payment stating he would only pay for the cab he has booked.
A verbal fight broke out between Roy and Harish after the cabbie refused to take him to the airport and asked him to cancel the ride.
The issue escalated when an angry Harish threw Roy's luggage from the car after cancelling the ride. An angered Roy objected to his behaviours when the accused started throwing punches and kicking him.
The victim was bleeding from his nose when someone interrupted their scuffle. As he was running late, Roy booked another cab and went to the airport. However, as he was bleeding profusely, the airline staff did not allow him to board the flight.
He was given medical aid at the airport hospital and was then taken to a private hospital in the city, where he came to know that his nose was dislocated.
The next day he approached Mahadevapura police and filed a complaint against Harish for physical assault. However, Harish has been absconding since the incident.
In a similar incident, on October 4, another techie, Shaleen, was assaulted by an auto driver near Sarjapur main road for questioning him on rash driving. The victim was riding his two-wheeler to his office when the auto driver tried to overtake him in a rash way.
An argument broke out between the two and Shaleen left the scene to avoid a fight. But the auto driver followed him and started abusing him and punched him, fracturing his nose.
An FIR has been registered at Bellandur police station and Shaleen has given the registration number of the auto and the description of the driver. The police said that the accused has not yet been identified and will be nabbed soon.
