Now, driver who drove singer to police threatens to drag Uber to court

Uber driver Rohit Singh Gaur

Rohit Singh Gaur, who drove his passenger Bappadittya Sarkar to Santacruz police station last week over a phone conversation on anti-CAA protests, has now threatened to drag Uber to court. The 35-year-old, through his legal adviser on Monday, gave the ride-hailing firm 24 hours to revoke his suspension.

Uber had restricted Gaur's access to the app for 72 hours after speaking to Sarkar, a Jaipur-based poet, about the incident. Though the deadline ended at 6 pm on Monday, Uber has not restored Gaur's access to his account because of an ongoing internal investigation.

"Just had a talk with the Brave Nationalist Rohit Gour who reported suspicious activity in @Uber ride to police as a good citizen. Instead of awarding him, @Uber_India suspended him. In case his suspension is not revoked in 24 hrs then will take Civil & Criminal legal action [sic]," Gaur's counsel Ishkaran Singh Bhandari tweeted on Monday.

'It's about livelihood'

Speaking with mid-day, Bhandari asked why Uber suspended Gaur when he "neither assaulted his passenger nor had any verbal spat". "Why is he [Gaur] being treated like this?" He said he would write to the Home Ministry requesting them to cancel Uber's license.

Bappadittya Sarkar, the passenger

"The suspension of Gaur means Uber does not want a crime or any suspicious activity happening inside the cab reported to the police," he said. "Rohit is under mental stress as Uber has restricted his earning. So, we will ask for monetary compensation from Uber unless they revoke his suspension," Bhandari added.

Gaur, who remains firm on his decision, said, "I don't regret my decision. Driving Uber cab is my part-time job, but I have been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy that is costing my livelihood. They [Uber] had assured me that my Uber ID will remain suspended for up to 72 hours. The deadline ended at 6 pm on Monday but I am yet to hear from Uber."

'Was held captive'

Sarkar, on the other hand, wants Uber to counsel Gaur so that none of his future passengers has to go through something similar. "I want Uber to give him a therapy so that he can never do so again. I have heard him saying that 'he will do it again' if his ideology does not match with his passenger's," said Sarkar when asked if he would file a complaint against him.

He said Uber called him to inform that it is investigating the matter. "They [Uber] asked me 'if the driver was rude'. I told them that 'he was not rude but even more than that'. He drove me to the police station without my knowledge that means I was held captive by him for 20 minutes. How can he do so?" asked Sarkar.

Uber's spokesperson said, "As soon as the incident was brought to our attention, we took it up on priority. We are in touch with both the rider and the driver, and are reviewing the matter."

Feb 5
Day the driver took the poet to police

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