CHENNAI: Claiming that the service of bike taxis in the city was affecting their business, an association of auto drivers staged a protest on Thursday. One of the protestors went overboard and booked a bike taxi ride, only to allegedly assault the rider when he arrived. He along with two other drivers also damaged two other bikes and a private company car that were waiting nearby for customers. The trio was later arrested by Saidapet police.
The arrested men were identified as K Sathish Kumar (34), S Rajagopal (26) and P Sivakumar (34). According to the police, the trio was part of the auto drivers association that was protesting against bike taxis on Tuesday. They claimed that their business was affected by the bike taxi drivers.
To take revenge on bike taxi drivers, one of the arrested men, Sathish, booked a bike taxi on his mobile phone. When the driver, P Mukundan (28) of Thiruvarur, came to the spot in Saidapet, Sathish and his gang surrounded Mukundhan and attacked him with helmets. They damaged his bike along with two other bike taxis and a car, believing the car to be a commercial taxi. After attacking the driver, the suspects fled from the spot. Based on a complaint, the police nabbed all three of them.