The safety of autorickshaw drivers working late at night in Mumbai has once again come under scrutiny after a driver was robbed by passengers in the Govandi area. Two youths, who posed as passengers, allegedly took the driver to a deserted lane and robbed him of his mobile phone and cash. Acting swiftly on the victim’s complaint, the police arrested both accused within a few hours of the incident.
According to the police, the victim, Mohammad Shafiq Sheikh (24), is a resident of the Sunderbag area in Kurla East and works as an autorickshaw driver. He has been living in Mumbai with his family for the past six years. On January 21, at around 6 pm, he left home for his routine work. In the early hours of January 22, at about 1 am, he picked up two passengers from Santacruz Railway Station (East) and agreed to drop them in Govandi.
After reaching Govandi, the two passengers asked the driver to pick up another associate and then instructed him to proceed towards Santacruz Pipeline Road. Upon reaching Santacruz, the two passengers got down, paid ₹500 as fare and left. The third passenger then asked the driver to drop him back in Govandi. Once there, he called another accomplice to board the autorickshaw and directed the driver to take them to a lane in Gautam Nagar.
Under the pretext of going home to fetch money, the accused stopped the autorickshaw and, taking advantage of the situation, forcibly snatched a mobile phone worth around ₹18,000 and ₹1,800 in cash from the driver before fleeing the spot.
Shaken by the incident, the autorickshaw driver sought help on the main road and, with the assistance of local residents, reached the police station to lodge a complaint. Following the information, policemen in plain clothes rushed to the spot and conducted a search operation in the Gautam Nagar area, leading to the arrest of both accused.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Asif Riyaz Khan (26) and Qais Shamshad Ansari alias Kaif (26). Police have registered a case of robbery and further investigation is underway.