Bengaluru: Four Passengers rob Ola cab driver, force his wife to undress for them on video call
Bengaluru, Dec 02: When Ola cab driver Somashekhar got a booking for going to Bengaluru’s Adugodi to Dommasandra on Friday night, little did he know that it would turn out to be the worst experience of his life. The four men who boarded his cab at 10.30pm robbed him off all his money, thrashed him and asked his wife to strip for them on a video call and took screenshots of it.
When the car reached the destination at around 10.30 pm, the passengers asked the driver to drive towards their home. As he drove little distance, the accused attacked him and snatched everything. They even took his car key and started driving.
"They drove the car for around 100 km. They snatched all my money. I had Rs 9,000 in my bank account. But they wanted more and asked me to get it from friends. I had Rs 20,000 rupees in my Paytm account. I called a relative, sent the money to him via Paytm and asked him to transfer the money to my bank account, which these men have withdrawn," said Somashekhar
Four passengers booked the Ola cab to go to Dommasandra from Adugodi, around 22 km, in Bengaluru on Friday night. They boarded the cab at 10.30 pm. While going, they thrashed driver Somashekar, snatched his money and mobile phone and asked his wife to undress for them on a video call. Later, they even took screen shots of the video.
Somashekhar was taken to a lodge in Channapatna in Ramanagara district on Saturday morning. Later, he excused himself to go the washroom and escaped from there by jumping out of the toilet window.
He went to a nearby police station and narrated his ordeal. But by the time Channapatna police reached the spot, the men had fled the scene. A case has been registered at Adugodi police station.
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Delhi HC Judge Justice Sharma to pass order on recusal plea by Kejriwal at 4.30 pm
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court Judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Monday said that she would pronounce her verdict at 4.30 pm on pleas by Arvind Kejriwal and others seeking her recusal in the liquor policy case, as she took on record additional pleadings by the AAP chief on his plea.
Justice Sharma said although the pronouncement was scheduled for 2:30 pm, she was "going out of her way" in accepting Kejriwal's rejoinder as a written submission in the matter.
The former chief minister virtually appeared before the judge through video conferencing and urged her to take on record his rejoinder to the written submissions filed by the CBI.
Even as Kejriwal asserted that the registry's refusal to take his rejoinder on record was "miscarriage of justice", Justice Sharma remarked that since he was not being represented by a lawyer, the court went "out of its way" for him when it permitted him to file his additional affidavit last week even after the order on the recusal issue was reserved.
The judge said that as per the registry's rule, a party in-person must take permission from the court to file anything and since the present case was not "extraordinary", the same practice was being followed.
She added that in law, there is no concept of filing a "rejoinder" to the opposite party's written submissions, and she would permit Kejriwal to tender his pleadings as written submissions instead, so that he does not feel that he was not heard.
"You say you have respect for me. I have respect for every litigant. The rule of court will not be changed for anyone so I will treat it as written submissions. I am taking it on record. I am giving the indulgence to Mr Kejriwal," the court stated.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared for the CBI and opposed Kejriwal's request to file rejoinder. Mehta said nowhere in the country were pleadings taken on record after order was reserved a court.
He also said there is no concept of filing rejoinder to a written submission, and the court should do what it would do for any ordinary litigant.
Kejriwal had raised several objections against the judge hearing the CBI's plea against his discharge in the liquor policy case, including that she had earlier denied him relief on his petition challenging his arrest and refused to grant relief on the bail pleas of other accused, including Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha.
He also claimed that Justice Sharma had made "strong and conclusive" findings.
The former Delhi chief minister further alleged a "direct conflict of interest", claiming that the judge's children are empanelled central government lawyers who receive work through the solicitor general, who is appearing in the matter for the CBI.
Besides Kejriwal, the applications for recusal of the judge were also filed by AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak.
Other respondents, including Vijay Nair and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, have also sought her recusal.
Solicitor General urged Justice Sharma to initiate contempt action against Kejriwal and others for seeking her recusal.
Terming concerns by Kejriwal and others as "apprehensions of an immature mind," Mehta told the court it was a matter of "institutional respect" and Justice Sharma should not succumb to pressure as her recusal on "unfounded allegations" would set a bad precedent.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, saying that the CBI's case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
