Culprits ask driver to drop them at Hullahalli; flee with car midway

Mysore/Mysuru: A 55-year-old cab driver was robbed of his cell phone and cash by two passengers who hired his cab for a local commute. The two accused, who were in their early 30s, are absconding and a search is on to arrest them.

Afsar Pasha, the taxi owner and a resident of Kesare Second Stage, is the victim. He has even lost his car (KA-09-A-6738) as the criminals drove away after robbing him. The incident occurred on the night of June 19 when Afsar Pasha had parked his vehicle at the taxi stand near the Sub-Urban Bus Stand.

At around 10 pm, two persons approached the vehicle and asked Pasha whether he would drop them at Hullahalli. After discussion on fares, the trio settled for Rs. 1,000 and both of them boarded the vehicle. The vehicle left the place and Pasha took the Udbur route.

It was a deserted road and when the vehicle reached Ahalya Gate near Nanjangud, the passengers asked Pasha to stop the vehicle as they wanted to relieve themselves by the roadside. When Pasha stopped the vehicle, one of the passengers held a knife to his throat and another accused demanded Pasha to hand over his wallet that had Rs. 500.

They then snatched his mobile phone and dumped Pasha on the roadside and drove the vehicle towards Hullahalli. Shocked by the incident, Afsar Pasha took some time to realise that he had lost his car. He somehow managed to get a drop till the NIE College and from there, he took a phone from someone and called his friend Siraj.

Siraj came to the spot and took Afsar Pasha to the Nazarbad Police Station. After registering a case, the Police team took Pasha along the Mysuru-Hullahalli Road via the same route and searched at places including Ahalya and Marballi but could not trace the vehicle.

“The modus operandi of the criminals is to move around at night and look for vulnerable autorickhsaw or taxi drivers. They mostly engaged taxis for long distances. Near a secluded place, they would ask the driver to halt for some time, beat up the driver and rob him of his valuables.” said an officer. In some cases, they even stole the vehicles.