BENGALURU: In a horrendous case that casts doubts on the security of lone passengers travelling in app-based autos, a 40-year-old hearing-impaired man was brutally assaulted and pushed out of a moving autorickshaw to be left paralysed and unconscious due to traumatic brain and spinal injuries and fractured ribs. The victim, identified as Jeetendra B Shah, was also robbed of his wallet containing Rs 7,500, his mobile phone and hearing aid.
The incident took place in full public view around 10 AM on Thursday after the vehicle left an auto gas-filling station near Metro Cash & Carry at Yeshwanthpur in Subramanyanagar police limits.
Shah, who works as a manager with an online bus ticketing platform, booked the autorickshaw around 9.30 AM through an app from Majestic to the residential apartment complex on 2nd Main, Goraguntepalya, where he lives with his sister Ketki A Thakkar and her husband.
After filling the gas and leaving the station, the driver allegedly asked Shah to pay him. When Shah took out his wallet, the driver allegedly snatched it. The driver also grabbed his mobile phone and hearing aid. He was then pushed out of the moving autorickshaw as it passed the road leading to Orion Mall.
It is yet to be confirmed whether Shah’s severe injuries are due to the impact of the fall from the moving autorickshaw or whether he was beaten up. It is also yet to be established whether the driver had accomplices. Shah has yet to give his statement as he is in the ICU.
Cops trace cab driver, check CCTV footage
Passers-by immediately called ‘108’ ambulance and shifted Shah to People Tree Hospitals at Yeshwanthpur. The hospital reported the matter to the RMC Yard police, who then transferred the case to the jurisdictional Subramanyanagar police. A search is on for the driver.
Hospital sources informed TNIE that Shah revealed his identity only after regaining partial consciousness on Thursday evening.
“The case is being investigated, and we are checking the CCTV footage. We are yet to record the victim’s statements. We are checking with the cab aggregators also,” said an investigating officer.
Dr S Jothi Neeraja, managing director and CEO, of People Tree Hospitals, said that the victim had traumatic brain and spinal injury and both sides of the ribs were fractured. He is stable and in the ICU, she said.