Ola drivers beat colleague, tell him to do sit-ups in undergarments

Video grab of the Ola drivers thrashing Santaji Patil. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

An Ola cab driver from Pune who had come to drop off a passenger in Mumbai was caught by protesters, who beat him up and even shot a video of the assault. The driver has been identified as Santaji Patil and the incident happened on Friday.

According to the police when the protesters found him online, they tricked him into coming to them by booking his cab from Bhandup. When Patil reached the spot, they surrounded his car and thrashed him. They then told him to remove his clothes and made him do sit-ups in his undergarments.

Two of the accused

They also told him to take an oath that he would not ply until the base rates were increased. The protesters then spread the assault video in their groups as a warning to others who wanted to ply their cars. Patil returned to Pune after the assault, but when his friends saw footage of the assault, they returned with him to Bhandup on Monday and registered an FIR at the police station.

Ramesh Khade, senior inspector, Bhandup police station, said, "We started a search for the accused soon after the case was registered and managed to arrest four of them."

On Monday, the striking cab aggregators hit the streets with a morcha at Ola's Chakala office where they have been negotiating with the management over their demands. The marathon meeting was inconclusive and will continue in the presence of the transport commissioner today.

Sunil Borkar, secretary, Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh, a union of app-based cab drivers led by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Mumbai president Sachin Ahir, told mid-day the strike was still on.

In the morning, scores of drivers with their cabs parked parallel to each other tried to block roads, but the police cleared them all. A cab found operating was also targeted and damaged and a woman passenger forced to alight despite police presence. While Ola did not issue any statement, Uber said they acknowledged the strike and were looking for an amicable solution. According to sources, the main demand of the Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh is to increase earnings.

Also Read: Ola-Uber drivers to hold morcha today, meet CM Devendra Fadnavis to end stalemate

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