A model and event planner from Kolkata was murdered in Bengaluru on 31 July and an Ola driver has been arrested for the crime.
The victim, Pooja Singh De (32), was discovered near Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Reports state that the woman was murdered after the Ola driver, identified as HM Nagesh, who was taking her to the airport, tried robbing her. He was not logged onto the app but was working in a professional capacity.
The police followed up on their leads and arrested the driver on August 21 in Bengaluru. Upon questioning he confessed to his crimes and is currently in judicial custody.
Pooja was returning to Kolkata after an event in Bengaluru when she was murdered. Deccan Herald reports that her body was found by villagers in the locality and they alerted the police. Her body was bludgeoned and she also had multiple stab wounds.
She was wearing Jealous21 jeans, Titan watch and a pair of branded sandals. Her bag and wallet were nowhere to be seen, making it difficult for the police to identify her.
"We had two clues. The bar codes on her jeans and a watch. We were trying to trace them back to the seller, but drew a blank," Bheemashankar S Guled, the DCP (North-East) told DH.
The police went on to say that they felt that she was from North India by her facial features and her ring design. Teams were sent to Delhi and Kolkata to search through missing persons complaints in case they can find something.
"We found a match with a missing person report in Kolkata. The report indicated that the person had gone missing in Bengaluru. The family identified the victim as Pooja Singh Dey, 30, a fashion model-turned-event manager," Guled had said.
On July 30 evening, Pooja had booked a ride on Ola from the Crescent Hotel to another one in Parappana Agrahara. She separately called the driver up later and asked him to pick her up at 4 AM the next morning to take her to the airport to which he agreed.
They commenced their journey at 4:15 AM from Hosur Road. During the commute, the driver deviated from the path to a secluded location and demanded money. He began hitting her with a jack rod till she became unconscious, narrated the police about the incident. He then dumped her behind KIA near Kaada Yarappanahalli village. When he went through her belongings, he found only Rs 500.
When Pooja became conscious, she tried to escape but the driver hit her repeatedly with a stone and also stabbed her many times to death, said the police.
Regarding incidents such as this, the police have advised people to refrain from individually booking trips with drivers they meet through cab aggregators.
