A cab driver in Noida was reportedly arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly threatened a group of women passengers with a rod following a dispute over the route taken during the ride.
One of the passengers, Tashu Gupta, said she booked the Uber cab on Tuesday from Botanical Garden Metro station to Sector 128. She was accompanied by four friends. The car involved had an Uttar Pradesh registration plate.
According to Ms Gupta, the dispute began when she requested the driver, identified as Brajesh, to take an underpass instead of a U-turn to avoid heavy traffic. The driver allegedly ignored the request and reacted aggressively.
"The driver, without any provocation, started speaking very rudely and said 'sit quietly, I will take the route shown on the map'," she recounted on social media.
Ms Gupta said the driver used abusive language, verbally threatened the women, and even attempted to hit them.
"When we requested him to speak politely...he started saying things like 'who do you think you are to tell me what to do? I have 10 like you working for me, and I drive 12-13 cars,' and continued abusing us," she wrote.
"Scared" for their safety, the women told driver they would report him to the police.
"He said things like 'do whatever you want, go and get me hanged' and started abusing again and was about to hit me as he was very aggressive. I was sitting right beside him," Ms Gupta said.
"We asked him to pull the car to the side so we could get off. He said 'I will teach you all a lesson'. When I was stepping out of the car, he pushed me saying 'nikal yahan se aur paise de' [Get out of here and pay]."
They refused to pay after which the driver pulled out a rod from the car's trunk and threatened the women.
"He parked the car, got out, went to his car trunk, saying 'tu ruk, tujhe to main abhi batata hun, aaj tujhe maar ke jail bhi jana pade to chala jaunga' [Wait, I will teach you a lesson, today even if I have to kill you and go to jail, I will do it] and pulled out a white rod to hit us," she added.
Ms Gupta further said the driver "aggressively" chased one of her friends who was recording the incident, and attempted to snatch her phone. The women also tried contacting local authorities and helplines but initially received no response.
In video clips shared online, the driver is seen verbally abusing the women, saying "chal, nikal bhaag" [get out, run], and in another clip, approaching them with a rod from his car trunk in a threatening manner.
Uber has responded to the incident. "Hey there, this is concerning. Such behaviour is unacceptable, and we prioritise your safety above all else. Kindly send your registered Uber account contact details through Direct Message, and our safety team will contact you shortly."
Following a formal complaint, the Noida police arrested the driver, as per reports.
