Uber molestation case: Accused driver arrested in Gurgaon

Police on Tuesday arrested a 40-year old Uber cab driver accused of trying to sexually harass a professional dancer on the way to Gurgaon from Delhi.

Police on Tuesday arrested a 40-year old Uber cab driver accused of trying to sexually harass a professional dancer on the way to Gurgaon from Delhi.

Uber-has-partnered-with-Carnegie-Mellon-University-for-the-new-venture-Photo-AFP

An officer said the accused, Vinod Kumar, is a married man from Saya Nagar in Delhi and has been driving a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire contracted by the app-based taxi service since May 4.

The US-based firm has suspended the driver and launched an internal investigation.

Police acted on a complaint, registered late on Monday, from the 21-year-old dancer, who alleged that the Uber driver kissed her hand and tried to pull her towards him after dropping her in Gurgaon on Saturday night.

She had hailed the cab after dance classes in Tagore Garden, Delhi, and was on her way to a friend’s place in Gurgaon.

Uber was banned in Delhi in December after a woman passenger accused one of its drivers of rape. The company resumed its services in January after applying for a radio taxi licence, which it still awaits.

Watch: The driver spoke about respecting women before he forcibly kissed me, says Uber molestation victim

The latest accusation surfaced on social media on Sunday when the woman’s brother posted a picture of Uber’s response to the complaint and urged the company to take swift action.

“We contacted Uber officials for relevant information about the trip and the driver. Then we rang up the victim to know the exact sequence of events,” Gurgaon police commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk said.

On Tuesday morning, officers managed to contact the driver and called him to the police station.

“After questioning, the investigating officer decided to arrest the accused,” Virk said.

Police said the accused did not have any previous criminal cases and he worked for the owner of the car he was driving. “The white car is owned by a resident of Sonepat in Haryana. It has been impounded,” an officer said.

Authorities in Delhi have maintained that Uber is banned in the capital and is operating without permission. However, the transport ministry said in April such companies should be better regulated but not banned.

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Uber shock again, driver accused of molesting woman in Delhi