This story is from February 2, 2019

Kolkata: App cab driver threatens climber near Kasba mall

Kolkata: App cab driver threatens climber near Kasba mall
The cabby who refused Satyarup Siddhanta and his friends a ride on Thursday night.
KOLKATA: A summit celebration dinner turned nasty for city mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta on Thursday night when he was allegedly threatened by an Uber driver who refused to take him home and even called in a group of men who further intimidated Siddhanta and his friends. Sidhhanta had allegedly dialled 100 and had lodged multiple complaints with the app cab operator over Twitter and the in-app service, but help didn’t arrive from either end.
He waited past midnight outside Acropolis Mall waiting for a response.
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“The cops were too reluctant to react and initially said they were unable to identify the location — something as popular as Acropolis Mall — and then said I should lodge a complaint with the app cab operator. And even though they promised help would arrive soon from Kasba police station, none came to the spot even after half an hour,” said Siddhanta, a 35-year-old IT professional who holds the record of being the youngest to have scaled seven summits and seven volcanic peaks. He had scaled Mount Sidley in Antartica last month and returned to the city barely a week ago.
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Cops must track down the cabby and deal firmly with the case. These incidents give the city and its transport scene such a bad reputation.


Siddhanta said he had a delayed response from the operators as well, who allegedly called him 18 hours after the complaint was lodged and told him 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 any more. We stand ready to support the law enforcement authorities in their investigation and proceedings in any way possible,” an Uber spokesperson said.

According to Siddhanta, he had booked a cab and was waiting outside Acropolis Mall with two friends to head home to Thakurpukur’s Kabardanga around 11.30pm on Thursday. “However, when the cab arrived and we tried to get in, the driver asked for our drop location. On learning it was at Thakupukur, he said he wouldn’t go that far and asked me to cancel the ride. As we tried to reason with him, I realised the driver was not the person that the app photograph showed and neither was the car number the same. I believe he had picked up someone else’s device and was driving for the night,” the complainant said.
When Siddhanta and his friends refused to get out of the car, the driver called someone, all the while threatening the group with dire consequences. The complainant dialled 100 and was asked to call Uber’s helpline number.
As they continued to argue, three men arrived at the scene and asked the group to get out of the car. “As we came out, the driver sped away and the men began intimidating us. One of my friends took out her cellphone and began video recording them when they left the place,” Siddhanta said.
The incident left Siddhanta in shock, fearing the men would track him by the location he had put in the app. He stayed at a friend’s place in Kalikapur.
“Uber officials called me after I narrated my plight to journalist friends and the first thing they told me was that they were sorry. They knew who I was. But I asked them what would happen 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?” he asked.
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