Driver in auto mode takes duo on horror ride

For 30 minutes, despite repeated entreaties by both the passengers, the accused allegedly kept speeding around and refusing to let them alight.

Mumbai: The Kurla area in eastern Mumbai was witness to a high drama earlier this week when an autorickshaw driver, after an argument, took a man and a woman for a ride forcibly. The man ultimately made a panicked call to the police control room, after which the auto was intercepted and the duo rescued.

The auto driver has been identified as Atib Ansari (25). (HT PHOTO)

According to the Kurla police, the auto driver has been identified as Atib Ansari (25). The police said that at around 7.30pm on Thursday, Kurla resident Radha Jaiswal hailed Ansari’s auto at the Chikne Chowk for a ride to to Bail Bazaar.

Ansari refused the fare and this sparked off an argument, with Jaiswal getting into the auto and insisting that Ansari drop her. At the same time, Chetan Korgaonkar, a local resident and acquaintance of Jaiswal, witnessed the commotion and came over to investigate.

“On seeing that the auto driver was adamant, I got into the auto myself and told him to take us to the police station if he did not want to drop Jaiswal. Ansari suddenly started the auto and took a right turn at high speed at the Belgrami Junction, after which he started speeding towards the Bandra Kurla Complex,” Korgaonkar has told the police in his statement.

For the next 30 minutes, despite repeated entreaties by Jaiswal and Korgaonkar, Ansari allegedly kept speeding around and refusing to let them alight. Both of them even tried shouting for help but this, too, did not work. Ultimately, Korgaonkar called the police control room on the 100-helpline number and narrated his situation to the police.

“We sent out a wireless alert to all police units in the area and at around 8.20pm, the auto was intercepted by a team of Traffic Police personnel near the CST Bridge in Kurla,” said an officer with the Kurla police station.

Jaiswal, a 50-year-old housewife residing at Wadia Estate in Kurla, said that she had visited a private clinic for a sonography and had been trying to hail an auto for nearly half an hour before Ansari stopped.

“By that point I was very tired and just got into the auto before telling him my destination. He stopped the auto after I told him and very rudely started insisting that I get off. It was his language that triggered me more than his refusal,” Jaiswal told HT.

“I was terrified when he fired up the ignition and started speeding towards BKC. For 30 minutes, he kept driving, saying I could do what I want even as I kept requesting him to stop. Had Korgaonkar not been there with me, I don’t know what I would have done,” Jaiswal said.

“Even at the police station, there was not a sign of remorse on his face. He did not once say sorry or offer to settle the matter by dropping me to Bail Bazaar,” said Jaiswal.

“I had the phone on speaker mode when I called the control room and even that did not deter him. He was completely reckless and did not care about the consequences of his actions,” said Korgaonkar.