BENGALURU: In a sudden twist to the Ola cab molestation case, it turns out the driver detained for the alleged crime is not the culprit. The accused is a new driver of the same vehicle. The confusion arose because the vehicle owner did not update details of the new driver with Ola after the previous man quit the job.
On Tuesday, Bommanahalli police arrested the ‘new’ driver and vehicle owner.
The case relates to a young singer, who said she managed to escape the Ola cab after the driver made advances and filed a case of molestation against him on Friday afternoon.
On Monday, police detained Ravikumar, who was registered as the driver of the vehicle. But it turns out that Ravikumar quit a couple of months ago and Naveen Rajput, the car owner, had hired Imran Khan (21), a native of Madhya Pradesh. However, Rajput did not update Imran’s name and other details with Ola and Imran continued to drive the vehicle in Ravikumar’s name.
Despite Ravikumar repeatedly approaching Rajput asking him to return his documents and remove his details from Ola, the latter did nothing about it.
Police received information about Imran from Ravikumar. Imran was then picked up from his residence in BTM Layout. Ravikumar is now a witness in the case.
Notice issued to Ola
Police have issued a notice to cab aggregator Ola for negligence. They said that Ola should have approached them after receiving information about the molestation incident from the woman, but instead waited for her to file an FIR. In fact, Ola did not contact the police even after a case was registered.
Police said that on April 30, Rajput and Imran went to Ola office to remove Ravikumar’s details and substituted the documents with that of another person. Police said they are not ruling out the involvement of Ola authorities. Imran has been booked for molestation and impersonation while Rajput has been booked for abetment of impersonation and distraction of evidence. Police have seized the cab and Imran’s phone.
However, Imran denied the incident. He told the police that the woman had threatened to file a false case against him saying that he had asked her for money.
The complainant, however, told Express that she always paid via Ola money and that the trip fare was automatically deducted from the wallet. She said that she identified Imran at the police station and added that he was trying to escape the charges by giving false information.
The incident took place on April 28, when the woman, a singer and private firm employee, was heading home from a pub in Koramangala. She was seated in the left seat when the driver took a diversion, stopped the car and then leant back and allegedly molested her. She, however, managed to escape from the cab and walked to a hospital nearby. She later went to the police station and filed a case.
TIMELINE
April 28: Woman books a cab from Tilt Gastro Pub in Koramangala around 2am to her home in Begur, near Electronics City. She is molested by the driver
April 28: She files a case with Bommanahalli police station
April 29: Cops detain Ravikumar based on the details in Ola app. He reveals cab owner’s details
April 30: Car owner Naveen Rajput is interrogated. He gives details of Imran,who was behind the wheel that night
May 1: Imran is detained and interrogated. However, media is told that Ravikumar being interrogated
May 2: Police arrest Imran and Rajput