The Noida police on Thursday arrested an Uber driver for allegedly misbehaving with and scaring women passengers after an argument about which route to take during their ride. The driver has been named as Brijesh Kumar, 38. He was arrested from his home in Haibatpur, Noida. Police acted after seeing a video of the incident that one of the passengers, Tashu Gupta, posted on social media. An FIR was registered at Sector 39 police station.
Dispute over route during ride
Police said the incident happened on Tuesday morning near Golf Course metro station. Gupta and four friends had booked a cab from Botanical Garden metro station to Sector 128. The dispute started when Gupta asked Brijesh to take an underpass instead of a U-turn to avoid traffic. In her complaint to the police, Gupta said Brijesh ignored her request and reacted angrily. In the video shared online, Brijesh is heard saying, “Paise de (give money),” and the women reply, “Kis baat k paise (money for what)?”
Aggressive behaviour captured on video
When the women began recording, Brijesh allegedly told them to delete the video. Gupta later posted about the incident on social media, saying he told her to do whatever she wanted and even dared her to get him punished. She said he began abusing her and tried to hit her while she was sitting next to him. When the women asked him to stop the car, he threatened to “teach them a lesson.” According to Gupta, Brijesh then parked the car, stepped out, opened the trunk, and said, “Wait, I will show you now. Even if I have to kill you and go to jail, I will do it.” She said he pulled out a white rod to hit them.
Police action and Uber response
Uber replied to her message online saying, “This is concerning. Such behaviour is unacceptable, and we prioritise your safety above all else. Please send your registered Uber account contact details in Direct Message, and our safety team will contact you shortly.” Sector 39 police have booked the driver under sections 115(2) [causing hurt], 352 (breach of peace), and 351(3) [criminal intimidation] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police also seized his Maruti Suzuki Ertiga car.
