Uber driver races off with woman's Rs 99,000 iPhone after New Year bash

The driver said he needed the customer's phone in order to end the ride. Representation pic

A New Year party ended on a bad note for a couple when their cab driver made off with the woman's iPhone worth Rs 99,000 after dropping them off at their residence in Virar East. Along with the phone they lost the details of the cab and the Uber driver.

On January 1, the driver picked up Prashant Chauhan, 28, and his wife from Andheri, where they had gone for a party, and dropped them off at Kedarnath Suram Park around 4 am, the police sources said.

The wife walked towards the house, leaving her phone, which was used to book the ride, with Chauhan. According to Chauhan's complaint, before leaving, the driver asked for the phone, saying he needed to end the ride. An unsuspecting Chauhan handed over the phone to the driver but was left in shock when the driver revved up and raced off with the phone. Chauhan chased the car for some distance but the driver sped away.

The same day, Chauhan, who runs a construction business, went to the Virar police station and filed a written complaint against the driver, describing him as bearded man with large nose in the age group of 25-30 years.

The police registered an FIR the next day and started examining the CCTV footage in the area to figure out the number of his car - a red Hyundai, an officer said. "We have registered a case under Section 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) against an unknown person and investigation in the case is underway," a police officer said.

Uber, till the time of going to press, did not respond to mid-day's email for a comment.

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