BJP chief honours Uber driver for informing cops about man who discussed anti-CAA protest in cab

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Feb 08, 2020:  Mumbai BJP chief MP Lodha on Saturday felicitated Rohit Gaur, the Uber driver who recently took one of his passengers to a police station after he heard him discuss matters related to anti-CAA protests on a phone call while travelling in his cab.

 

The city BJP chief MP Lodha felicitated Rohit Gaur with a so-called "alert citizen award".

In a tweet, Lodha wrote: "Today I felicitated Uber driver Rohit Gaur for informing police about a passenger who was plotting an anti-national protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and handing him over to the police. I called Rohit and felicitated him with the ’Alert Citizen Award’ on behalf of the people of Mumbai."

WHAT’s THE CASE?

On February 5, Rohit Gaur took Bappadittya Sarkar, a 23-year-old poet from Jaipur, who was in Mumbai and was travelling in his cab, to the Santa Cruz police station after he overheard him discuss matters related to anti-CAA protests.

Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association Kavita Krishnan tweeted about the incident, allegedly involving Sarkar. Sarkar himself could not be contacted to verify the account.

As per a purported statement by Sarkar, tweeted by Krishnan, he took an Uber cab from Juhu to Kurla around 10.30 pm on February 5.

During the journey he got on a phone call with a friend and began discussing about people’s discomfort with `Laal Salaam’ slogan at Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi. The driver, who overheard the conversation, stopped the cab and told Sarkar he wanted to withdraw money from ATM.

When the driver returned, he had two policemen with him, who allegedly asked Sarkar why he was carrying a `Dafli’ (a percussion instrument), and also asked him his address.

Sarkar, as per the statement tweeted by Krishnan, told them that he was from Jaipur, and had visited the anti- CAA ’Mumbai Bagh’ protest in the city for "sloganeering" earlier in the day.

The driver allegedly asked the police to take Sarkar into custody because "he was saying he was a communist and was talking about burning the country". The driver also claimed he had recorded the phone conversation.

Sarkar was then taken to the police station, the statement said, without specifying which station it was. Sarkar requested the police to listen to the conversation and verify the driver’s claim.

The driver allegedly said to him, "You people will destroy the country and do you expect that we will sit looking at you?"

Sarkar should be thankful that he was taken to a police station and not somewhere else, the driver allegedly added.

The police asked him about his ideology and "the people he read", the statement further said. The police were polite with him and asked both him and the driver to record their statements, it added.

Around 1 am, communist activist S Gohil reached the police station after which Sarkar was allowed to go, the statement added.

The police advised Sarkar not to carry the Dafli or wear a red scarf, "as the atmosphere is not good and anything can happen", according to the statement tweeted by Krishnan.

Courtesy:India Today