Hand over details of ‘molester’ driver, police tells Uber

A day after an Uber driver was arrested for allegedly molesting a New Zealand national in the city, the Mumbai police asked cab aggregator service Uber to submit all records on the accused, including whether there were similar complaints against him in the past.

Police sources said they would check if the arrested driver had any previous complaints registered against him.

The driver of the Uber allegedly molested the complainant, who is currently working in Mumbai, when she was on her way home on Wednesday. The woman alleged that the driver placed his hand on her thigh on the pretext of cleaning the rear windows. The driver was arrested on Friday evening and identified as Shehbaaz Abdul Sattar Shekhani (47).

The woman had boarded the cab from a friend’s place in Pali Hill in Bandra and was returning home to Seven Bungalows in Andheri (west). The case came to light after the woman’s friend put up a post on Facebook about the incident.

While the incident took place on Juhu Tara Road, the woman first approached the Khar police station. “She came to us and we registered a Zero FIR, which is done in cases where the crime takes place under a different police station’s jurisdiction. We then transferred the case to the Santa Cruz police since the area comes under its jurisdiction,” said an officer with the Khar police.

Sources in the Santa Cruz police said that after the accused was arrested it contacted Uber. “We have asked it to send the documents and the background check that that they conducted of the driver. We will also be checking if the said driver had any previous complaint registered against him,” said a police source. He added that they would also check whether the cab service conducted a thorough background check of the driver before enrolling him under the service.

The accused was presented at Bandra court where he was remanded to police custody till August 22. Appearing for the accused, advocate Moin Khan argued against the police custody, saying that since the section booked against him levied five years of punishment, he could not be placed under police

custody. “My client has said that he was indeed cleaning the glass and while doing so he placed his hand on the passenger’s thigh and she started screaming,” said Mr Khan.