30-year-old molested, culprit caught in half an hour

A 30-year-old owner of a placement agency was molested and verbally abused by the driver of a moving Maruti Eeco taxi near the Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) around 11.30am on Thursday, Karn Pratap Singh reports.

A 30-year-old owner of a placement agency was molested and verbally abused by the driver of a moving Maruti Eeco taxi near the Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) around 11.30am on Thursday.

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The driver happened to be the owner of the taxi and the woman is a resident of Mandoli Extension, police said.

A senior police officer said the accused, identified as Sagar Singh, dragged the woman out of his taxi near the ISBT and fled in his vehicle. He was, however, traced and arrested within half an hour by seemingly vigilant officers of the Delhi Police.

The force, of late, has been taking swift action on every call of crime against women after the December 16 gangrape.

Prabhakar, deputy commissioner of police (east), said, "He was booked on charges of molestation and verbally harassing the victim. His taxi has also been confiscated.

The woman, a senior officer said, had hired the taxi for visiting a shopping mall near ISBT Anand Vihar. Near the Surya Nagar traffic signal, an argument ensued between her and the taxi driver over tariff.

"The woman in her complaint alleged that the taxi driver verbally abused her and made several derogatory remarks. When she objected, he began threatening her. At the ISBT Anand Vihar foot over bridge, Singh stopped his vehicle, grabbed the woman and dragged her out of the vehicle," said the officer.

The taxi driver reportedly got scared when the woman had made a call to the police control room before being thrown out of the taxi. "She gave us the registration number of the taxi. The accused, along with his vehicle was traced within half an hour," added the officer.