BENGALURU: For those living away from home, going back for festivals is always a happy time. However, a trip home for this IT professional started on a bitter note due to an unpleasant experience with a cab driver.
The cab driver allegedly beat up the 23-year-old software engineer over a payment issue in Mahadevapura on Wednesday. The driver, Harish KS, is absconding after the incident, police said. A senior police officer from Mahadevapura police station said the injured, Aneek Roy, who works with an IT firm in Whitefield, alleged that he had booked the cab to the airport, as he was going home to Kolkata. Roy had selected an ‘Uber Pool’ cab.
When the cab arrived, the driver Harish demanded he pay ‘Uber Go’ fare in advance, which Roy objected to, stating he would only pay the fare for the cab he has booked. Harish then refused to take Roy to the airport, and asked him to cancel the ride.
This led to a verbal duel between the two, and Harish threw Roy’s luggage on the ground. When an angered Roy asked him to be careful with his luggage, Harish then punched Roy in the face repeatedly. Even though onlookers gathered around the scene, no one came to Roy’s rescue. Since he was running late, Roy booked another taxi to get to the airport. Security personnel, however, refused to let him fly, as his nose was bleeding, and suggested he get medical help first.
He then went to a private hospital near Airport Road, and was admitted for a corrective procedure for his dislocated nose bone. A day later, he approached Mahadevapura police. Speaking to TNIE, Roy said, "I called Uber’s customer care and narrated the incident soon after it happened. Their response was positive. They have also agreed to pay my medical bills." An Uber spokesperson said, “We removed the driver partner’s access to the app. We are ready to assist law enforcement with their investigations.”