Rapido driver injured during attempted robbery on Old Kanakapura Road

Bengaluru: A Rapido bike taxi driver was allegedly robbed by two bike-borne miscreants in Southern Bengaluru while he was ferrying a customer.

This incident took place on old Kanakapura Road near MN Krishna Rao Park in the second week of November, on the same road just a kilometre away from a similar incident reported on November 19.

In both instances, two bike-borne individuals snatched the phones of the victims and sped away. While in the second instance, the victim reportedly lost his phone worth Rs 1.5 lakh, in the most recent instance the bike taxi captain suffered shoulder dislocation and purportedly a hairline fracture in the same shoulder. He also allegedly lost his Rs 45,000 phone to the robbers.

Maran (name changed), a Rapido captain, received a request on his ride-hailing platform at 10 pm on November 7, and picked up his customer from the BTM second stage and headed towards Basavanagudi.

As he crossed the Armugam Circle, a hand swiftly reached for the phone holder affixed to his scooter handle and slipped his mobile away.

Maran told DH, “They tailed me for a couple of kilometres but I didn’t realize they were up to something. When they reached close to my scooter, I thought they were overtaking me, but my prediction was wrong,” he said. 

Maran chased them from behind for about 200 meters before he panicked seeing a sharp object being pulled out by the pillion and losing balance near a speed breaker. 

“I was on the chase but panicked seeing the sharp object and lost control near a speed breaker. Me and my customer both fell down from the scooter,” Maran said, adding that he suffered shoulder dislocation and wept in pain. His customer suffered minor scratches on his hands and legs. 

They did it like experts, they surely were experienced in it, Maran claimed. The occupants of the cars behind them offered assistance and promptly called the police. The cops attended to them within a few minutes and took them to hospital, according to Maran.

An investigating officer told DH that a case had been booked under Section 392 (robbery) of IPC and the hunt for the suspects is on. 

In the second instance, on November 19, an interior designer lost his iPhone on the same road approximately a km away from where Maran lost his phone to the miscreants.