A Kolkata app-cab driver and five associates were arrested after a passenger was allegedly abducted and assaulted with iron rods and bamboo sticks following a dispute over an additional fare and parking fee, according to a report by the Times of India. The incident took place in eastern Kolkata on Friday, with the victim later treated for multiple injuries at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital.
The passenger, a resident of Panchannagram, had been returning from Howrah Railway Station with three friends after booking a vehicle through a popular app-cab aggregator. The dispute began around 11 am after the driver dropped off the other passengers and an argument broke out over a parking fee and an additional charge of Rs 142.
According to the report, the driver then drove towards Science City with the passenger still inside the vehicle and allegedly refused to drop him at his residence. One of the passengers who had already been dropped off, along with two friends, followed the vehicle, intercepted it near Science City and rescued the passenger.
The driver allegedly returned around 1 pm with a group of associates and forcibly took the passenger away in the same vehicle in front of his Panchannagram residence. The group allegedly drove him to Dhapa Ground, which falls within the Pragati Maidan police station area.
The passenger was allegedly assaulted during the journey with kicks, punches and blows from fists and elbows. At Dhapa Ground, the assault allegedly intensified, with the driver and his associates using metallic rods and bamboo sticks. Local residents and police personnel on duty were alerted by the commotion and intervened at the site, the report said.
Six people, including the driver, were apprehended from the spot. The report said the suspects had been identified and that some were detained for questioning. The police action followed a formal complaint filed by the victim at Anandapur police station, where a case was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Friends took the injured passenger to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, where he received treatment for injuries across his body before being discharged. The report did not specify the exact sections invoked in the case or whether the app-cab aggregator had issued a public response.
The incident places passenger safety and driver accountability at the centre of a dispute that began with a relatively small fare disagreement. The immediate investigation will establish the sequence of events, the identities and roles of those involved, and the evidence available from the locations through which the vehicle travelled. Police are also reviewing CCTV footage as part of the probe.
