Ola driver, passenger assaulted, robbed by 6 men in Delhi’s high-security diplomatic area

An Ola cab driver and his passenger were assaulted and robbed of cash, an iPhone, and other documents, allegedly by six men, at a CNG station on San Martin Marg in central Delhi’s high-security diplomatic area in Chanakyapuri while they were en route to Delhi airport early Monday, police said.

The police said the six men broke a window of the cab and tore the clothes of the passenger before escaping with the stolen Rs 4,500 in cash and an i-Phone. They beat up some staffers of the CNG station when they tried to stop them from assaulting the cab driver and the passenger.

All the six men were arrested on Tuesday after their identities and residential addresses were established with the help of CCTV footage, the statement of the CNG station staffers and investigation in nearby areas.

Five of them -- Mohammad Tafiq, Manohar Kumar, Karan Singh, Rajinder Singh, and Karan alias Tinda -- live in a railway colony at SP Marg in Chanakyapuri, around two kilometres from the crime scene.

The sixth man, Deepak Singhania, is a resident of Delhi Cantonment. All six are private drivers, police said.

There was no response from Ola till late Tuesday night.

The cab driver, Durgesh Sharma,37, on whose complaint a robbery case was registered at the Chanakyapuri police station, told the police that he had been working with Ola for the past four years.

Sharma said that around 2.30 am on Monday, he picked up a passenger, Mohit (identified by his single name), from North Avenue to drop him at the Delhi airport.

On the way, Sharma stopped his cab at the San Martin Marg CNG station to refill gas. As the cab was leaving the station, two men came in front of the cab, forcing Sharma to stop. As Sharma asked them to move away, they broke the driver’s side window glass.

“Both of them appeared drunk. They started assaulting me and snatched R4,500 and some documents from my pocket. As the passenger tried to help me, four more men came and quarrelled with the passenger and assaulted him as well. They snatched his iPhone and tore his clothes,” Sharma wrote in his complaint.

Police said some employers of the CNG station were beaten up when they tried to stop the attackers. During the melee, the cab driver managed to speed away from the crime scene with the passenger. After around 100 metres, Sharma stopped and called the police.

“Since the passenger had to rush to the airport, he called another cab and left for his destination. A police team arrived and admitted Sharma to a nearby hospital with injuries to his face and teeth,” said a police officer associated with the case.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said since the crime had taken place in the diplomatic area, a team was formed to probe it and nab the suspects.

“The footage of CCTV cameras of the crime scene were analysed and photographs of the suspects were shown to people in the nearby neighbourhoods. This exercise helped us identify and nab the suspects,” Yadav said.