The Mumbai cab driver, Rohit Gour, who drove a “lal-salam” activist, Bappaditya Sarkar, to the police station instead of the latter’s destination on Wednesday, finally shared his side of the story exclusively to India Today.
Rohit narrated, “As he sat in my cab, he was talking to someone over the phone. He kept discussing the protest and doing something big for which he had also travelled to Nagpur, Jaipur, etc. He was saying how the female audience here in Mumbai is giving a good response, and something big can be done here also. He was talking a lot about Shaheen Bagh. Everyone knows that what is happening at Shaheen Bagh. I cannot let such chaos in my city.”
The protestors at Shaheen Bagh, have been on a sit-in protest for the past 55 days against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Fuelled by the same spirit of Radical Islamism and inspired by its success in the mecca of Anti- CAA protests, the women have also now sat on a dharna in South Mumbai’s Nagapada.
Rohit was petrified when he overheard Sarkar saying, “Iss country mein aag lagne wali hai (The country is going to burn).” The Uber driver was scared that his passenger might do something “big” in Mumbai. So, he drove his cab near the police station and excused himself under the pretext of going to the ATM. Rohit instead went into the police station and narrated his story to the police.
The Communist poet alleged that Rohit drove him to the Santa Cruz police station instead of his destination in Kurla, post which the cops interrogated him for 3 hours. He also claimed that several “irrelevant questions” were asked by the police. The activist pointed out that the driver allegedly commented on his dress and wanted to become famous through his actions.
The 35-year-old Mumbai cab driver who picked up Sarkar from Juhu dismissed his claims. Rohit said that he had been living in Mumbai for the past 14 years and cannot let anything happen to the city for some extra money. He has now been felicitated by the Mumbai BJP President, MP Lodha, for being an “alert citizen.”
Mumbai BJP Pres MP Lodha felicitates Uber driver who took his passenger to Santa Cruz police station instead of the destination, after he heard him make a phone conversation over anti-CAA protest on 5th Feb. Police had recorded statements of both but found nothing suspicious. pic.twitter.com/9EHx2UyObH
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2020
The Santacruz police also dismissed the allegations levelled against them by Sarkar and contended that no irrelevant questions were asked to him. DCP Pranay Ashok stated, “Sarkar had taken the cab. The cab driver, after hearing his conversation, took him to the police station. The cab driver alleged that he was suspicious. The police did routine inquiry, and he was let off.”
The story came to light after Kavita Krishnan, a well- known Naxal sympathiser, took to Twitter to vent her outrage. She alleged, “a glimpse of scary India under NPR NRC CAA, where every person will be incentivised to suspect & turn in others & police can harass everyone.” However, she and the cabal of left-liberal activists were quick to justify the heckling of journalist Mahesh Vikram Hegde and Republic TV media baron, Arnab Goswami.
