Cabbies on night duty at high risk

BENGALURU : Attacks on cab drivers are on the rise in and around the city, and in recent cases, robbers posing as commuters targeted two drivers and attacked them before snatching their valuables. 

It is not just robbery, as one cab driver discovered in Adugodi in October 2018. After he accepted a booking, his passengers snatched his car keys. Despite robbing him of Rs 29,000, the miscreants took him to an isolated place and forced him to video-call his wife. They instructed the driver to ask his wife to strip, and when she refused, they assaulted him again. This forced her to strip, and the gang allegedly took screenshots. Later, the driver was taken to a lodge from where he managed to escape on the pretext of going to the bathroom.

Arul Chandran, another victim, told TNIE, “It is our duty to accept bookings, and we are black-listed if we cancel a trip without valid reason. So we reach the pick-up spot on time.”

It took Chandran almost 20 days to get out from the shock of a robbery, and now, he avoids rides if there are more than two persons at midnight.

Anup Shetty, DCP (North-East) said there should be an emergency alert system (SOS) for drivers who find themselves in trouble. “It would be helpful to send an alert to a nearby police station to track the cab’s movements,” he said.

Drivers should avoid isolated routes during night hours, and use only main roads. If they sense any danger from the commuters, they should stop the vehicles near shops or hotels on highways, or at toll gates.

RISKY RIDES

• April 17, 2022: A cab driver was stabbed by 32 times on his back by two minors who robbed him of Rs 12,000. The accused, from Bihar, had planned to camp in Bengaluru for a month to commit robberies. Locals noticed Dileep lying in pool of blood in the cab, his hand sticking out. They rushed him to St John’s Hospital and alerted police
• April 1, 2022: Sampigehalli police arrested a gang of four for robbing cab driver Arul Chandran. The accused had booked the cab at Shivaram Karanth Layout, and when the driver reached the pickup spot, the accused snatched the car keys, stabbed him and escaped with his vehicle. Chandran was forced to withdraw money from a nearby ATM before he was pushed out of the car
• Sept 2021: A daylight robbery attempt was foiled with the help of passersby in Richmond Town when a youngster tried to rob a cab driver, armed with a sharp knife. Passersby snatched the knife away from Ritesh Jayakumar (18), a resident of Domlur, and thrashed him
• Oct 2021: Shanthappa Mallappa, a 26-year-old taxi driver, was assaulted and robbed by a gang of four posing as passengers. The resident of Kengeri was blindfolded and gagged, and the accused took his ATM card and assaulted him when he hesitated to disclose his PIN
• Jan 2020: A gang of seven attacked cab driver Girish, snatched his mobile and cash before driving off with his vehicle in Soladevanahalli. Night patrol police chased the gang but the robbers attacked two policemen and escaped, abandoning the cab near Hesaraghatta.