HYDERABAD: Medipally police on Monday held seven of the eight persons accused of assaulting former employees of Long Drive Cars, a car rental company. The arrested persons — Ch Mahesh, Sharath, Prasanna, Anusha, Pooja, Kumar and Raja — were also remanded to judicial custody while the main accused, Kopula Harideep Reddy, who is reportedly the director of Long Drive Cars, is absconding.
According to the victims — Obedh, Rishitha, Nithin, Yogi, Tarun, Madhumita and Sameer — they met on February 11 to launch their Instagram page after they had resigned from Long Drive Cars.
Speaking to TNIE, Obedh said, “We left Long Drive Cars due to lack of payment and were forced to sign another one-year agreement. However, five of our team members opted to create an Instagram page as video creators, while two others were actively seeking new job opportunities.”
“On February 11, we met to strategise about our Instagram page. Coincidentally, Sharath, a Long Drive Cars employee and former teammate, was present there, shooting something for his company. As friends, we shared our plans with him and sought his input. However, Sharath misrepresented our intentions, claiming that we were planning to join another car company. However, we were not going to join any other car company,” Obedh added.
Upon learning about their alleged plan to join another company, the current management members of Long Drive Cars came to the spot, dragged them into a car and took them to the office. There, they were reportedly brutally beaten with belts and car tyre tubes.
“Our phones and keys were confiscated, and we were forcibly taken to the office. The beatings with belts and tyre tubes were inflicted upon us simply because we intended to launch our own Instagram page,” claimed Obedh.
Later, the victims were purportedly coerced into calling two other team members who were in search of jobs. They were also beaten brutally, while Tarun was beaten naked, claimed Obedh. Besides this, the accused also allegedly threatened the victims that they and their families would be harmed if they reported it to the police.
An officer from the Medipally police station said that cases against the accused have been registered under Sections 365 (kidnap), 342 (wrongful confinement), 392 (robbery) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.