Audi driver booked for assaulting Ola cabbie in road rage incident

MUMBAI: The Parksite police have booked a Ghatkopar resident for allegedly assaulting an Ola driver after CCTV footage of the apparent road rage incident on August 18 went viral on Thursday.
In the CCTV footage, the accused is seen lifting the Ola driver and flinging him to the ground after the latter bumped into his Audi car from behind. The incident occurred outside the main gate of the Wadhwa building on LBS Road in Ghatkopar, where the accused, Rishabh Chakravorthy, stays.
The Ola driver was identified as Qaymuddin Mainuddin Qureshi, 24, a resident of Govandi. He sustained injuries to his head and back, and was hospitalised for four days. On Thursday, the police registered a case against Chakravorthy, a journalist, after recording the statements of him and his wife, who was also in the car.
Qureshi told the police that on August 18, around 11.40 pm, the accused’s Audi car brushed against his cab near Asalfa metro station. Both the drivers got out of their vehicles and had an argument, blaming each other for the accident. Qureshi alleged that a woman then got out of the Audi and took his Ola mobile device from his cab. The Audi driver and the woman then left.
Qureshi said he followed the Audi till they reached the Wadhwa building. When the Audi stopped at the main gate, Qureshi bumped into the luxury car from behind, said a police officer from the Park Site police station.
Chakravorthy then got out of his car, slapped Qureshi twice, and, in a fit of rage, lifted him up and threw him to the ground, added the officer. Qureshi claimed he was following the Audi because he wanted to take his Ola device back.
The cab driver further told the police that he sustained severe injuries to his head and back, so he went to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar. He was later admitted to JJ Hospital as per the doctor’s advice. “The Ola driver was admitted for three to four days in JJ hospital. But there is no serious injury,” said senior inspector Santosh Ghatekar of the Park Site police station.
“The Ola driver approached the police on August 28 and, after an inquiry, we recorded his statement. A case was registered against the Audi driver and a woman based on his statement under sections 115 (causing hurt), 117 (causing grievous hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” said Ghatekar.
However, Ghatekar said that Chakravorthy’s wife had not removed the Ola device from the cab. “The person driving the Audi car, Rishabh Chakravorthy, was called in the police station and we recorded his statement. At the time of the incident, his wife was also in the car. During our investigation, we learnt that the woman had not removed the Ola device from the Ola car.”