New Delhi: Three people, including an Uber driver and a DU student, were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly abducting and robbing a man. The incident took place on January 20. Police have seized a knife, the cab, two motorcycles, and the victim’s mobile phone, laptop and cash from the accused.
The three arrested have been identified as Rehan (23), Ranjan Singh (21) and Ravi Shankar Sharma (18). While Rehan started driving Uber cab since January 1, 2018, the other two accused were working in an apparel company in Noida. While Rehan and Ravi are school dropouts, Ranjan was pursuing his graduation from Delhi University.
Kaushal Sharma, an accountant, told the police that he was waiting at the bus stop in Okhla Phase 1 at around 8:15pm on January 20 after completing work, when a WagonR stopped in front of him.
The car had three persons in it already. The driver asked Sharma where he wanted to go. When Sharma said he had to go towards Badarpur, the driver said they all were going in the same direction. Sharma sat in the car.
After they had travelled less than half a kilomete, the two others overpowered Sharma at knife point and threatened him of dire consequences. They took his laptop, mobile phone and cash and drove towards Malviya Nagar, where they asked him to withdraw more cash from an ATM.
“The victim showed presence of mind and entered the wrong PIN, due to which the money was not withdrawn,” said DCP Southeast Chinmoy Biswal.
The accused then thrashed the victim and dropped him at G-block, Saket, police said. Sharma approached the police and lodged a complaint.
During investigation, cops found that the car belonged to one Naveen Jha from Badarpur. “He revealed that the car belonged to him but he had hired someone to drive the cab,” said a senior police officer.
With the help of video surveillance, the driver, Rehan, was arrested from Okhla Mandi.
“During interrogation he broke down and confessed that he along with his two associates had abducted and robbed Sharma. With his information, more raids were conducted and the two associates were also arrested,” said DCP Biswal.
During interrogation, they disclosed that all lived in the same locality and had planned to rob people waiting for auto and buses late in the evening. Rehan used to drive the cab while the other two used to pose as passengers. The driver would ask the target his destination and then they all would together say that they are going in the same direction. Police said that they are verifying how many cases they were involved in.
When contacted, an Uber spokesperson said, “Upon learning about the incident, we immediately removed the driver's access to the app as this behaviour is completely against our guidelines. We stand ready to assist the law enforcement authorities in their investigation in any way we can.”
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