Mumbai: A few days after he took poet-activist Bappadittya Sarkar to the police station for discussing the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act over the phone with a friend, Uber driver Rohit Gaur was felicitated for his actions by Mumbai BJP president M P Lodha.
A photo of the felicitation was posted to Twitter by Lodha, with the caption in Hindi reading: “Rohit Gaur…. who handed over the Uber taxi passenger devising anti-national conspiracy against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Felicitated Rohit Gaur on behalf of the people of Mumbai. We felicitated him with the ‘Alert Citizen Award’ (sic)”
????? ???…. ???????? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ?????? ?? ????????? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ?????????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???????? ????? pic.twitter.com/hct3ReNjgK
— Mangal Prabhat Lodha (@MPLodha) February 8, 2020
It can be recalled that on Wednesday night, poet-activist Bappadittya Sarkar, was taken to the police station by his Uber driver after the latter overheard the former talking about an anti-CAA protest over the phone.
According to a report by NDTV, Sarkar told police that he had taken an Uber from Juhu to Kurla at around 10.30 PM on Wednesday, and spoke about the people’s discomfort with the “Laal Salaam” slogan at the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi with his friend over the phone.
Hearing the discussion, the driver of the cab, Rohit Gaur informed the police and accused Sarkar of being a “communist” who wants to burn the country and make another Shaheen Bagh in Mumbai.
According to ANI, the police recorded both Gaur and Sarkar’s statements but found nothing suspicious.
Uber blocks Rohit Gaur’s account
Meanwhile, Uber has temporarily blocked Gaur’s account for taking his passenger to the police station in Santacruz instead of his destination.
According to a report by TIE, Uber informed Sarkar, “Your safety is something we take seriously and we would not want you to pay for the inconvenience caused.”
Uber added that they have “temporarily restricted the driver’s access to the Uber app while the investigation is underway”.
Speaking to TIE, Sarkar confirmed that he received a call from Uber about the developments.
Sarkar added that when the driver said, “Tum desh barbaad karoge aur hum dekhtey rahenge? Main kahin aur le jaa sakta tha tujhe, shukr maano police station laaya hun (Should we watch while you destroy the country? Be grateful that I brought you to the police station, I could have taken you somewhere else)” he felt scared.
“That was scary. That I could have just disappeared,” he said.
Reportedly, the poet-activist took a train to Nagpada to join the Mumbai Bagh protest the next day, as he was afraid to take a cab.
