Gurugram: Police have arrested a 26-year-old cab driver, identified as Yasir, in connection with a woman passenger's allegations that he demanded a higher fare, locked her inside the vehicle and threatened her, Hindustan Times reported via Inshorts on Thursday, with NDTV also reporting the arrest. Police acted suo motu after the woman's post on X went viral, the Hindustan Times report said.

Source: Hindustan Times via Inshorts

This is a new development in the case reported a day earlier, when Uber said it had permanently barred the driver from its platform and Gurugram Police said they had taken cognisance of the woman's account and were trying to reach her. The arrest moves the case from a platform ban and a police cognisance to a custodial arrest of the accused driver.

The passenger, Tanisha Sharma, a software engineer, had alleged in her post that she travelled from Delhi airport to her home in Gurugram, that the app displayed a fare of around Rs 625, and that the driver instead demanded Rs 1,479, showing a fare quote from another ride-hailing platform. She alleged that when she refused to pay more than the app fare, the driver locked the car, held back her luggage, grabbed her arm, followed her to her home and threatened her. All of these are her allegations, as reported earlier; they have not been established by a court.

The Hindustan Times report said the arrested driver had allegedly registered on the app under a different name. The Times of India, reporting the arrest on Wednesday, said police took suo motu cognisance of the woman's account, in which she alleged she was physically restrained and followed home over the fare dispute.

Source: The Times of India via Etleboro

Uber had earlier said the described behaviour violated its community guidelines, that the driver's access to the app had been removed, and that it stood ready to support law enforcement. Further legal proceedings in the case are awaited.