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Woman boards fake Ola cab at Bengaluru airport; rescued shortly after

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10th November, 2024 18:03 IST

Hyderabad: In a harrowing experience, a Bengaluru woman was almost abducted by a man impersonating as Ola driver after she boarded the cab from (KIA).

Nikita Malik, a doctor by profession was later rescued by the police.

She shared the incident on X giving details of how she was duped by the ‘cab driver’ who introduced himself as Basavaraj.

“Had I not called 112, I’d not be here typing this” her post read.

Malik stated that she booked an Ola cab from the Bengaluru airport at around 10:30 pm to return home. She was greeted by Basavaraj. The car had a different number plate.

Standing at the designated Ola cab pickup bay, she assumed the car was the one assigned to her and got in without suspecting anything amiss.

Adding to the confusion, Basavaraja did not ask for the usual OTP number and instead asked her to mark her destination in Google Maps. When asked about the OTP number, he replied that the Ola app was facing errors.

Shortly into the journey, the fake cab driver demanded extra fare, more than what was displayed at the booking time. Upon her refusal, the driver suggested transferring her to another car.

At this point, Malik realised it was not the Ola cab that was designated for her at the time of booking. Fearing her safety Malik insisted she be dropped back to the airport.

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However, Basavaraj started to ignore and intimidate her. He stopped at a petrol station where again he demanded Rs 500 for fuel.

Malik quickly dialled emergency helpline number 112, and took a picture of the car and the number plate.

She also called her family who stayed with her over the phone during that time helping her to remain calm.

Responding to Malik’s distress call, police immediately swung into action, reached the spot and arrested Basavaraj.

Netizens share similar experience

Responding to her post, various X users shared similar accounts of harrowing experiences from the Ola online taxi service and also while booking cabs from the Bangalore airport.

A X user named Anadee shared similar experience while travelling from Bengaluru airport with his parents.

“So sorry for you. Hope you doing okay now. But I don’t know why this is such a common incident in Blr. I was travelling with my parents and something similar happened,” he wrote.

Another X user said, “Sorry for what you have faced ! And happy that nothing major happened ! Hope you shall come out of the trauma asap . Take care . Off late quality of & drivers & cabs have drastically come down ! After all they loot customers without owning any respnsblty (responsibility).”

Another X user said, “What a sad situation for us! Be on the lookout constantly?. Is there never a time to unwind and feel safe while driving home after a long day of traveling?”

One user wrote, ”This is so scary, I’m getting goosebumps while reading your complaint letter.” 

A woman shared another serious story of her friend booking an Ola cab in Mumbai’s Thane, and she got a call from an unknown number that seemed like an Ola call centre, from which the caller knew her location, and phone number, even before the Ola app connect her with a real driver.

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