Kolkata: Mountaineer harassed by app cab driver, his associates

KOLKATA: A summit celebration dinner turned nasty for Satyarup Siddhanta – the city mountaineer who holds the record of being the youngest in the world to have scaled seven summits and seven volcanic summits – on Thursday night as he was allegedly threatened by an Uber driver who refused to drive him home and even called in a group of men who further intimidated him and his friends.
Satyarup had allegedly dialled 100 for help and had lodged multiple complaints with the app cab operator over twitter and the in app service but help didn’t arrive from either the police or the app cab operators even as he waited till past midnight outside Acropolis Mall waiting for a response.
“The cops were too reluctant to react and first said they were unable to identify a location as popular as Acropolis Mall and then said I should lodge a complaint with the app cab operators. And even though they promised help would arrive soon from Kasba police station, none came to the place even after half an hour,” said Satyarup, a 35-year-old IT professional who had scaled Mount Sidley in Antartica last month and was back in the city barely a week ago.

Satyarup claims he had a further delayed response from the app cab operators who allegedly called him 18 hours after lodging the complaint and told him that they were taking appropriate action against the driver.
“What’s been described today is deeply upsetting. Our community guidelines clearly reject such inappropriate behaviour, and safety of all our riders is paramount. The individual in question cannot access the app anymore. We stand ready to support the law enforcement authorities in their investigation and proceedings in any way possible,” said an Uber Spokesperson.

According to Satyarup, he was waiting outside Acropolis Mall in Kasba to hail an app cab with two friends to head to his home at Kabardanga in Thakurpukur around 11.30pm on Thursday. “However when the cab arrived and we tried to get in, it asked our drop location and as I told the same, he said he wouldn’t go that far and asked me to cancel the ride. As we continued to reason, I realised the driver was not the same person as was shown in the app and neither was the car number the same. I believe he had picked someone else’s device and was driving it for the night,” said Satyarup.

As Satyrup and his friends continued to reason and refused to get off the car, he called someone and threatened Satyarup with dire consequences. Satyarup also dialled 100 who asked him to call Uber’s helpline number.
As they continued to argue, three men arrived at the scene and asked us to get down. “As we came out, the driver sped away and the men then began intimidating us. One of my friends took out her cellphone and began video recording them when the men backed off and left the place,” said Satyarup.

The incident left Satyarup in shock and fear as he was carrying a very expensive altimeter watch and didn’t take the chance to head home for the night fearing the men could track his home address he had pinned in the drop location and stayed back at a friend’s place in Kalikapur.
“Uber officials called me only after I had narrated my plight to some journalist friends and the first thing they told me was that they were sorry as they have already studied my profile and knew who I am. But I just asked them that what happens to a common man who may not be a public figure? How can they expect a safe drive and a quick response in case of an emergency?” said Satyarup.