Reports on Saturday claimed Uber had suspended a driver for taking a poet to police in Mumbai after he overheard the latter criticising the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
In the incident on Wednesday night, poet and activist Bappadittya Sarkar had booked an Uber cab driven by Rohit Singh Gaur to travel from Juhu to Kurla. Sarkar claimed he was taken to police by Gaur when he talked about the 'protest culture' in various cities on the phone with a friend.
Sarkar alleged Gaur had stopped the vehicle on pretext of taking cash from an ATM. Sarkar claimed Gaur accused him of talking about creating a 'Shaheen Bagh' in Mumbai and even claimed to have a recording of Sarkar's conversation. Sarkar was later taken to the Santacruz police station and questioned for two hours.
On Saturday, The Indian Express quoted Sarkar as saying, "They (Uber) called me today and said the driver partner’s account has been temporarily barred. They are also waiving off the charge that was levied for the trip.”
Interestingly, on Saturday, M.P. Lodha, the Mumbai unit chief of the BJP, felicitated Rohit Singh Gaur with an 'alert citizen award'. Lodha tweeted images of the event, writing, "Rohit Gaur was called to Santacruz police station and greeted on behalf of the people of Mumbai and honoured with the alert citizen award." Lodha also declared it was wrong of Uber to suspend Gaur.
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Gaur has remained unapologetic about his actions. Speaking to the Mumbai Mirror, Gaur claimed he would do the same thing again if he hears another passenger making similar statements.
Gaur told Mumbai Mirror he began recording Sarkar's conversation when the latter said "the country is going to burn". Gaur refuted criticism that his actions constituted an invasion of privacy and claimed Sarkar was attempting to replicate a protest similar to the one being held in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi.
