Uber Driver Assaulted by Passenger's Friend For Refusing to Drive to New Destination

Mumbai, July 27: A passenger's friend brutally assaulted a 46-year-old Uber driver after he refused to drive to a new destination. Sharukh Engineer was attacked with a rod by Rakesh Thalakkat when he declined to ply his friend who had changed her trip destination from Kalina to Dombivli after boarding the cab. The incident took place at Sion-Koliwada on Monday.

After completing his last trip, Sharukh Engineer entered ‘home’ into the Uber app and headed towards his Andheri residence. Once a driver enters 'home' mode, Uber sends a request only if the passenger’s destination falls on his route. At Pratiksha Nagar, a woman, who had marked her destination as Kalina, boarded Engineer’s vehicle.

After talking to her friend Rakesh Thalakkat, the woman changed her destination to Dombivali. When Engineer explained to her that he could not ply to Dombivli as he had already entered into 'home'mode, she got agitated and complained to Thalakkat who was waiting outside the vehicle. "He suddenly started to hurl abuses and pull my shirt,” Engineer told TOI.

According to Engineer, he pushed Thalakkat away. “He then went to his SUV, pulled out a rod and hit it on my head. I was in tremendous pain as blood started oozing out,” Engineer added. When he tried to note down Thalakkat’s vehicle registration number, a passerby intervened and slapped him. Injured Engineer then started driving home.

Engineer's family took him to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, where he received 15 stitches. They also filed an FIR at Antop Hill police station. While Engineer's family alleged that they received no help from Uber, the company said it had blacklisted Thalakkat. Thalakkat was arrested and is in judicial custody.

"The rider no longer has access to the app. We are in touch with the driver partner to support him in any way possible and stand ready to assist law enforcement in their investigation," reads a statement released by Uber.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 27, 2018 03:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).