THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A passenger was allegedly roughed up by a group of autorickshaw drivers from near the Thampanoor KSRTC bus stand pre-paid counter on Tuesday morning. Sajith Saji, a resident of Muvattupuzha, was attacked when he complained to some of the auto drivers that he was overcharged the last time he visited the city. Hearing this, a group of drivers, including the one whom Sajith complained about, attacked him resulting in an eye injury. They also took away his gold bracelet. On July 31, Sajith had travelled to Anayara in a pre-paid auto after getting a fare slip of `113. However, when he reached his destination, the driver demanded `150 and the two entered into a verbal duel.
On Tuesday, when the 31-year-old reached the city and was walking past the autorickshaw stand, he complained to a driver and showed him the fare slip. Then, the driver who had taken him the last time, arrived at scene accompanied by a group of driver friends. They attacked Sajith and then took away his bracelet. Sajith said he protested against the extra charge the last time as he didn’t have enough money. “When I was crying after the bracelet was snatched off me, they hit me on my eyes,” Sajith said.
The police at first didn’t take the case seriously. Though they registered a case, they didn’t provide Sajith a copy of the FIR. This was not the first time auto drives from the Thampanoor pre-paid stand have come under the scanner. Last week, an autorickshaw driver was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a woman passenger while going to drop her at Karakkamandapam at night.