The Delhi Police said on Monday that they had arrested a 22-year-old man who pretended to be an Uber cab driver for allegedly abducting and sexually harassing a woman in Kundli area on the Delhi-Haryana border, PTI reported.
The report added that cab aggregator Uber issued a statement that it had initiated action against the man and was cooperating with the police in the case.
On March 9, a 29-year-old woman, who works as an adviser in a company, had booked an Uber cab from Kundli in Haryana for her home in Delhi’s Rohini area. When the cab arrived, she noticed that its number plate was white in colour, signalling it was a private vehicle, and not yellow, which is used for commercial vehicles. The car also had tinted windows. The driver’s face also did not match the image provided by Uber on their app.
The driver, who appeared to be drunk, drove the car along a secluded route in Narela, and made advances towards her, the complainant alleged. The police said the complainant told them that when she tried to alight from the vehicle, the driver locked the doors through the central locking system and threatened her.
When the driver slowed down the vehicle at a CNG station near GTK depot, the woman managed to unlock the doors and alighted, after which the accused fled with the vehicle.
After the woman registered a complaint, the police obtained details of the car and driver from Uber and traced the vehicle to Janti Kalan village in Sonipat, Haryana. On March 9 night, the police arrested Sanjeev alias Sanju from the village, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Aslam Khan said.
The police discovered that Sanju was not registered as the driver of the vehicle and did not possess a licence either. The man who was registered with Uber as the cab’s driver had given it to Sanju.
An Uber spokesperson said the company had sacked the driver who lent his car to the accused. “We immediately removed the driver partner’s access to the app and will take strict action against him for letting an unregistered driver without a licence access his account and take trips via the app,” the spokesperson said.
The police have sent a questionnaire to the cab aggregator firm and are waiting for a response.
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