B’luru auto driver allegedly beaten to death for charging the correct fare

A 67-year-old autorickshaw driver from Bengaluru was beaten to death by another auto driver, for allegedly having charged his customers low fares for their rides.

The incident took place on Wednesday at the Yemalur auto stand in Bengaluru. The victim has been identified as Narayana Y M, and was a former driver for the tax department. Following his retirement, Narayana had taken to driving an auto. According to the police, he mostly operated in and around Yemalur and would charge his passengers reasonable fares.

Last Wednesday, another auto driver at the stand, Babu (20), got into a heated argument with Narayana over the latter charging low fares. Things intensified when Babu allegedly started beating Narayana, who fell to the ground after having sustained several blows and kicks. He lost consciousness on falling down.

Other drivers in the vicinity immediately tried to intervene and informed Narayana’s family who rushed to the spot and took him to a private hospital. He was referred to another hospital as the one he was taken to did not have enough oxygen supply. When he was taken to the second hospital, doctors declared that he’d been brought dead.

Babu was subsequently arrested and taken into custody by the police following a complaint lodged by Narayana’s daughter Prerna at the Marathahalli police station. She told Deccan Herald that her father had taken to driving an auto following his retirement in 2011 and never demanded exorbitant charges from people, adding that he was very fond of doing social service. Several people in the area became fond of him and preferred only taking auto rides with him, which led to some jealousy.

It was reported that several techies who worked in and around the ECOSPACE IT hub preferred hailing his auto for rides. Several other auto drivers, grew frustrated with their inability to charge excess fares when he was around, as he would only take the bare minimum from his passengers.