Bengaluru: Ola kidnap bid, but cops won't file complaint

BENGALURU: An actress and transgender rights activist had a narrow escape after an Ola driver allegedly attempted to abduct her, locked the car after cancelling the trip and drove towards an unknown destination in Koramangala police limits on Sunday night. The nightmare continued when she approached the Madiwala police station, which was the nearest.

The police officers there refused to take the complaint citing jurisdictional issues and made her go to the Kormangala police station, where she was made to sit for over six hours before the complaint was registered.   The activist, Sukanyeah Krishna, alleged that the policemen at the Koramangala police station did not treat her right and registered the complaint only at 3.35 am.  

She took to Facebook to narrate her ordeal. She wrote, "I faced an unfortunate event yesterday at about 8 pm while travelling in an Ola cab. The driver, Jagadish R., driving a White Swift Dzire car with the registration number KA 03 AC 8274 tried to abduct me, after I boarded the cab in front of my house." She revealed that she had booked a share cab and the car arrived at the location within a few minutes. "As soon as I got into the cab and told him the OTP to start the trip, the driver asked me 'What's the mode of  Payment? Cash or Ola money?" and I replied, 'Ola Money."

But the driver was not willing to start the trip. "He demanded cash or Paytm payment. I told him that the money was already paid through Ola Money and I cannot pay twice for a single trip. As there was confusion, I called the Ola Customer care. While I was waiting for the call to be answered, the driver cancelled the trip, locked the car and started driving. When I asked him where he was going, he said he was heading to a police station, but he took some other direction. Then I started shouting for help. I escaped from the cab at a traffic signal near Jakkasandra. He drove the cab for about one and a half kilometre from  my boarding point, even after cancelling the trip. It would've led to an unfortunate event if I had not got down from the cab."

Complainant made to sit at station till early morning   
Sukanyeah Krishna said that it became worse when she reached the police station. The policemen, instead of helping her, made her sit at the station till Monday early morning.  "A friend of mine & I went to the Madiwala Law & Order Police Station for registering a complaint. They told us, 'It happened at the other side of the road, so you have to go to Koramangala Police  Station'. We reached the Koramangala Police Station by 9.30 pm, but we're able to return only by 3.15 am after finishing the formalities. The policemen dragged it for so long."

After she gave the Ola driver's number, a police officer called him and asked him to come to the station. But the accused driver came only by midnight. "The cops didn't help at all. The policemen were trying to convince me desperately not to press charges. They also waited till the relatives of the culprit could reach the police station for negotiations."

She said, "FIR means First Information Report, not a report created after the culprit is taken into custody and an opportunity for negotiation is offered from his relatives. I understood why the police station had registered only 258 complaints so far this year. The crime rate in Bengaluru is low, not just because crime never happens here but, they don't register complaints."