A 20-year-old student thrashed and robbed by an autorickshaw driver in Pune. The incident took place near Baba Bhide bridge around 8.30pm on Tuesday. Dhiraj Ashok Supekar, a second-year BSc student of S P College, is originally from Shrigonda in Ahmednagar district, but currently staying in Subhashnagar with his friends.

On that day, he had kept the amount of Rs 9,600 in his pocket after he failed to deposit it in the college. Supekar told, “I had gone to meet a friend in Shivajinagar around 7pm. Thereafter, I dropped the friend at her hostel and hired an autorickshaw from Mhasoba Chowk in Shivajinagar to reach Alka Talkies“.

The driver picked an argument with Supekar over the fare. “He demanded a fare of Rs 100 which was way above the usual tariff of Rs 30-40. When I declined to pay the asked amount, he relented by saying that he would drop me near Deccan Gymkhana since it was easier for him to get a return passenger from there,” Supekar said.

Thereafter, he drove me through various bylanes before stopping behind a parked tempo in a remote area near Mutha riverbed between Omkareshwar temple and Bhide bridge.

“He saw the bundle of cash when I took out the money to pay him the fare. Initially, he made futile attempts to snatch the cash from me. When he did not succeed, he kicked me several times before pulling out a sharp weapon from the autorickshaw. He threatened me with it and took the cash before fleeing with his vehicle,” he added.

During the incident, Supekar said he raised an alarm, but nobody came to his rescue. “Many vehicles passed by the area, but conveniently turned a deaf ear to my pleas for help,” he added.

Luckily, Supekar jotted down the registration number of the autorickshaw.

“I called up the police control room immediately after the incident. One police officer each from Vishrambaug and Deccan Gymkhana police stations reached the spot soon after,” he said, adding that the officers took some time on deciding the jurisdiction that the spot was in.

“Once the confusion was over, I was taken to the Deccan Gymkhana police station, where I registered the complaint and also gave them the registration number of the vehicle, along with the physical description of the driver,” Supekar added.

Deccan Gymkhana police station SI Chandrakant Lohokare said, “Investigations have revealed that the autorickshaw driver drove the vehicle via Mhsoba Chowk, JM Road, Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge near Balgandharva and robbed Supekar near the riverbed after finding the area deserted“.