The Muslim Uber driver, who was allegedly attacked in Hyderabad’s Shaikpet area by a group of men who chased him in bikes, said local residents who helped him during the ordeal told him there have been similar incidents before. Syed Lateefuddin (37) of Chandrayangutta said his car was attacked with stones and the attackers forced him to chant “Jai Sree Ram” while he was on his way to Alkapur area to pick up a customer.
According to Lateef, the group chased him by screaming at him and pelted stones at his car at around 3am on Sunday. Speaking to TNM Lateefuddin said: “I somehow escaped them initially but after I reached the pick-up location the customer cancelled the ride. The same men showed up again and started hurling stones at the car. My vehicle reached the dead-end of a road while trying to escape. They dragged me out and beat me up while asking me to chant Jai Sree Ram.”
Lateefuddin said he fled fearing for his life and hid himself in the bushes before calling the police emergency number 100 to report the incident. According to him, the men had damaged the car severely before the police came. The men where hurling abuses in Telugu, he said.
Lateefuddin said that he took the help of locals to communicate the location of the incident.”The locals who helped me have told me that there have been four to five similar attacks against Muslims in the area but the victims have not reported to police fearing the consequences, but I decided to lodge a complaint with the police,” Lateefuddin told TNM.
However, police said that they responded swiftly given the sensitivity of the issue. A senior police officer, who is investigating the case said their investigation so far has confirmed that there was an attack on the cab driver by a group of men. “But we still haven’t verified the allegation that he was forced to chant "Jai Sree Ram". Our teams are already looking into the case from all angles,” said the officer.
Narsingi Station House Officer (SHO) Shiva Kumar said that they have registered a case under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 304 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and other relevant sections of IPC as per the complaint of the victim.