Uber general manager slapped allegedly by Congress MLA Nitesh Rane's aide in Mumbai

Mumbai: The general manager of Uber taxis in Mumbai was allegedly slapped today by a member of a local outfit here on a day when Maharashtra government decided to ban web-based taxi services in the state.

KK Tiwari, union leader (auto-taxi wing) of Swabhiman Sanghatana, allegedly slapped Shailesh Sawlani, general manager of Uber in the Maharashtra capital, when he was coming out of the office of the Transport Commissioner in suburban Bandra here.

However, no formal police complaint has been lodged in this regard.

Swabhiman Sanghatana is led by Congress MLA Nitesh Rane. Following the Centre's advice on web-based taxi services in the wake of the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman in an Uber cab in Delhi, the Maharashtra government has decided to ban such services in the state.

The alleged rape incident in the national capital had taken place on Friday night.

Following outrage over the incident, Delhi government had banned Uber and all web-based cab booking services which had not taken any regulatory approval from transport authorities.

Read: Cab rape case: Uber Asia-Pacific head to be questioned again

Meanwhile, police on Wednesday questioned two friendsof the Uber cab driver, accused of raping a 27-year-old executive on Friday night.

However, they did not find any criminal record of the two and did not find any culpability on the duo in the case.

Police personnel took the accused to Mathura today to recover the smartphone which had the Uber App used during the crime. Police has already recovered two of the three phones used by Yadav.

"The phone is an important evidence for us. It will prove that he works for Uber which will help us prove the culpability of the cab service," said a senior police official.

Read: Accused driver is serial sex offender

The duo, identified as Gaurav and Kamal, are friends of 32-year-old Shiv Kumar Yadav, who used to drive Swift Dzire cab at times.

"One of the phones used by Yadav was on Gaurav's name. We had first reached him during preliminary investigation and it was he who had put us on Yadav's trail," a senior police officer associated with the probe said.

"We questioned the two to gather more facts about Yadav. Swift Dzire belonged to the accused and Gaurav and Kamal also used to drive the car at times. However, these two (persons) were not registered with Uber," he said.

Read: PM Modi takes case seriously, asks NSA to look into matter

Yadav, who was driving an Uber cab, had allegedly raped a 27-year-old financial executive, who works for a multinational company in Gurgaon, on Friday night when she was headed back home in north Delhi's Inderlok area.

He was later arrested from Mathura and is under three-day police custody.