This Article is From Dec 08, 2014

What it Took to Find the Uber Driver Accused of Rape

What it Took to Find the Uber Driver Accused of Rape

Shiv Kumar Yadav, accused of raping a woman passenger, was arrested from the outskirts of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: It took two days of manhunt and a 25-minute chase on foot in Mathura to catch Shiv Kumar - the driver with popular taxi service Uber, who allegedly raped a young woman passenger in Delhi on Friday night.

Kumar, 32, who had been driving with Uber for six months, had allegedly taken the woman to an isolated spot when she had dozed off in his car while travelling from Vasant Vihar to north Delhi's Inderlok area. He then allegedly molested and then raped the woman.

In her complaint, the woman said he had even threatened her that if she went to the police, he would shove an iron rod inside her, as had been done with the young woman who had got raped in a bus in Delhi on December 16 2012.

Sources in Delhi Police said Kumar had gone home to Mathura on Saturday morning. He told his wife that he had "got involved in a case" and that they should be ready to leave home with him. But before he could make his getaway, the police reached Mathura.

When Kumar got to know a police team had arrived, he ran away from home. The police questioned his wife, but she said she did not know where he was, the officer said.

By Sunday morning, the city was flooded with policemen hunting for Kumar.

What helped the police was the knowledge that Kumar was using three phones. One of them, which had the Uber GPS installed, had been switched off to avoid detection. But the police could track the other two, one of which Kumar was using to keep in touch with his wife.

By tracing the calls, the police zeroed in on the area he was calling from - Anandvan colony in the outskirts of Mathura. When they reached, a local, who had seen Kumar, tipped them off.

But when Kumar saw the police arriving, he bolted, the officer said. They could only catch up with him after a 25-minute chase. By then, Kumar had taken refuge inside an abandoned house. The police had to break into the house and arrest him.
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