‘Almost trafficked!’ Doctor’s quick thinking saves woman from fake Ola driver

Bengaluru: A cabbie was arrested for impersonating an OLA driver while driving a woman doctor out of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) last week.

The police arrested Basavaraj, 27, on a complaint from Nikitha, a 34-year-old doctor.

Nikitha told the police that she flew in from Delhi on November 7 around 10 pm and waited at the Terminal 1 pick-up point after booking an OLA cab.

Basavaraj allegedly approached her, claimed he was from OLA and assured to drop her home to Hoskote.

Nikitha had her first doubts when she realised Basavaraj drove a sedan while she had booked a mini-car. However, considering the late hour, she got into the cab. Basavaraj didn’t ask for any OTP either, even though she insisted that he validate the ride by entering the OTP on the OLA app. His explanation was that the app wasn't working.

According to Nikitha, she told him she would pay only Rs 1,300, the fare shown in the app. But Basavaraj asked her to pay Rs 1,500, saying his was a luxury car. She refused to pay more and asked him to drop her back at the Terminal 1 pickup point.

According to the FIR, Basavaraj didn’t respond and kept driving. In the meantime, Nikitha called up a relative and explained the situation.

Basavaraj pulled in at a fuel station and asked Nikitha to pay Rs 500. On the relative’s suggestion, Nikitha called 112, the police helpline, and explained what had happened. She also shared her live location with the police.

When she refused to pay for the fuel and told Basavaraj that she had contacted the police, he dropped her back to Terminal 1. The police reached the location in time to detain him for questioning. He was arrested under BNS Section 319(2) (cheating by personation). A court later released him on bail.

In an X post, Nikitha wrote: “almost got trafficked/raped/looted/assaulted by a random cab driver who was let in by @BLRAirport in the Ola pickup station & impersonated to be one at terminal 1 of BLR airport at 10:30pm had I not called 112, I’d not be here typing this (sic).”

A police officer close to the investigation told DH that Basavaraj's cab was not affiliated with OLA, and he was an independent driver. Basavaraj told the police that he just wanted a trip back to the city and lied to the customer. He denied having asked Nikitha for more money.