The ongoing agitation by a section drivers of Meru Cabs escalated on Wednesday after a brand new car that had been added to fleet recently was set ablaze at Bandra by unidentified persons during the early hours of the day.
Meru Cabs authorities said while 600 to 700 cars of their fleet of 2,000 cars are back on the road, incidents of violence were triggering fear amongst the drivers who want to work.
“The car was parked by a driver near his residence on Tuesday night, and was spotted burning in the morning. There have been 107 cases of cars being damaged and drivers being beaten up. The company has suffered losses of `3 crore, to say nothing of the losses to drivers who have to feed their families,” said Rajesh Puri, CEO, Meru Cabs.
The police said it would be too early to jump to a conclusion regarding the car burning. “A couple of other Meru cabs at the spot were unharmed. We are investigating whether this is sabotage or a technical fault,” said Avaduth Chavan, senior police inspector, Kherwadi
police.
As per the complaint of a driver, the MRA Marg police on Tuesday night had arrested A.K. Tiwari, Mumbai president of the Nitesh Rane-led Swabhimaan Sanghatana under Section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others); Mr Tiwari was released on bail on Wednesday.
Earlier, the CEO of the company had also received threat calls warning him of dire consequences. The management has been alleging that the agitation is the handiwork of office-bearers of Nitesh Rane’s Swabhimaan Sanghatana, which has, however, denied this allegation.
The union’s demands include a revision of membership fee and more holidays, among other requirements.