OLA Cab Driver Abandons Passenger, Flees With Diamond And Gold Jewellery In Bhubaneswar
According to police, the victim, Aman Kumar Agrawal, had arrived from Thailand and booked an OLA cab from Bhubaneswar airport to Sector 9 in Cuttack
Bhubaneswar: In a shocking breach of passenger safety, an OLA cab driver allegedly abandoned a foreign-returned passenger on a roadside in Bhubaneswar late Wednesday night and fled with valuables worth around Rs 20 lakh, including diamonds, gold jewellery and foreign currency.
The accused, identified as Naga alias Nageswar Paramanik, was arrested on Thursday morning by Chandrasekharpur police. All stolen items have been recovered, police said, adding that a detailed investigation into the incident is underway.
According to police, the victim, Aman Kumar Agrawal, had arrived from Thailand and booked an OLA cab from Bhubaneswar airport to Sector 9 in Cuttack. During the journey, the driver stopped at a CNG station in the Chandrasekharpur area and asked Agrawal to step out of the vehicle on the pretext of refuelling. Taking advantage of the situation, the driver allegedly drove away with the passenger’s luggage still inside the cab.
Agrawal later told police that the driver had behaved aggressively during the ride, quarrelling with him and others, and driving rashly.
“He even claimed that he was a murderer and had previously been in jail,” the victim alleged.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Zone VI) Sonali Singh Parmar said the accused is a history-sheeter with four previous criminal cases registered against him.
“An inquiry will be conducted to ascertain how a person with a criminal background was engaged by a private cab service provider,” she said.
The incident has raised serious concerns over passenger safety and background verification practices of app-based cab aggregators.
