Ola Driver Takes Outstation Trip, Reported Dead; Family Cries Foul
Family of Ola Driver who was allegedly murdered accused the UP police of not taking action in time.
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Forty-year-old Mohammed Yusuf, an Ola driver from Delhi’s Sarai Khalil area, was allegedly murdered in Mathura while ferrying a passenger to Rajasthan. The family also alleged that the Uttar Pradesh police did not lay him to rest and cremated him instead.
Yusuf left for work on the morning of 9 August. His wife, Salma, says he was in constant touch with her that night. They last spoke at around midnight, after which Yusuf’s phone was unreachable and later switched off.
On 10 August, the family filed a complaint with North Delhi’s Sadar Bazar police station.
The FIR was only filed on 14 August. Meanwhile, a number of developments took shape.
On 10 August, Yusuf’s neighbours went to the Ola office in Gurgaon to enquire, where they were told that Yusuf’s trip was not completed as per records, but both the customer and the driver could not be reached on their phones.
When The Quint reached out to Ola, they confirmed that Yusuf had been working for the company since 2015 and that he accepted a ride to Rajasthan from Delhi at 6 pm on 9 August. They also mentioned that it would have taken him five hours to reach the destination.
On 11 August, Uttar Pradesh Police informed the Delhi Police about an abandoned car – registered in Delhi – that they found near Achhnera town, in Agra district.
Delhi police relayed the information to Yusuf’s family the same day, but kept delaying their visit to Achhnera to probe the matter. After waiting two days, the family was told that the police was occupied with duties for Independence Day celebrations and that the investigation had to wait, but Yusuf’s kin were reluctant to wait any further and left for Achhnera on 13 August.
On reaching Achhnera and searching the car, they found a Faridabad toll slip. Some of the locals they spoke to said an unidentified body was recovered from a water body in Mathura’s Ol village – 20 kms from Achhnera.
Based on the lead, the family approached Ol police and were informed of an unidentified body that was found on 10 August at 7:35 am.
The Ol Police showed them Yusuf’s picture. He had injuries on his head and neck and his hands were tied with rope.
The police told them that they sent the body for cremation at 2.30 pm on 13 August. They said that they could not have waited for more than 72 hours and that the body had to be cremated eventually.
After Yusuf’s family reached the location where he was cremated, they were handed his ashes in an earthen pot.
The family is also not very sure that the ashes that they got are Yusuf’s.
The family accuses the Uttar Pradesh Police of making no effort to ascertain Yusuf’s identity and of depriving them of their right to conduct the last rites as per Islamic tradition.
The Ol police say that they had no idea about his religious identity. Investigating officer and Ol police chowki in-charge, Vipin Bhati, said that they found Yusuf's body at 7:30 am on 10 August (and not 7:35 am as mentioned earlier) and cremated him at 2:35 pm on 13 August, after keeping the body for 72 hours.
Bhati claims that they got a photo of Yusuf’s published in the local newspapers for identification for three consecutive days. Howeve, he could not show The Quint any proof of it.
The only information published in a local newspaper Amar Ujala was of an unidentified body that had been found by the police.
The Uttar Pradesh police say the investigation is underway and that those responsible for the crime would be held responsible.
Meanwhile, Yusuf’s family still awaits his post-mortem report.
(This is a developing story.)
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