Thane, Jun 11 (PTI) Police have arrested an aggregator cab driver for allegedly assaulting a 70-year-old man who objected to him spitting near a mall in Maharashtra’s Thane city, officials said on Thursday.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday evening outside Jupiter Hospital located near the Viviana Mall, sparked widespread public outrage after a video of the assault went viral on social media platforms.
Taking cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday termed it “serious” and stated that strict directions had been given to the police to take stringent action against the perpetrator.
The victim, identified as Sarosh Dastur, was near the mall with his wife at around 7 pm on Tuesday when he spotted the cab driver spitting on the road.
When Dastur questioned the driver about his actions, the accused, identified as Nishant Dhar Shukla, lost his temper and allegedly abused the elderly man and beat him up severely. The driver also tried to hit the senior citizen on his head with stones and tree branches, a police release said.
The video of the assault went viral on social media, triggering massive outrage.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is an MLA from Thane, also took serious note of the incident and directed the city police to invoke the attempt to murder charge against the accused.
Amid the mounting public anger, local activists of a political party tracked down the accused driver, thrashed him and subsequently handed him over to the Thane police.
As per the police release, the accused was placed under arrest on Wednesday.
The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Shukla under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including section 109 (attempt to murder) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), the release said.
The driver, who hails from outside the state, allegedly assaulted the man, causing him severe injuries, when the latter objected to the driver’s spitting on the road near Jupiter Hospital on Tuesday evening, a statement from Shinde’s office earlier said.
In a viral video, the driver was also seen picking up a stone to hit the elderly man, it said.
“If a person is brutally assaulted merely for pointing out that someone is littering, it will not be accepted at any cost,” Shinde was quoted as saying in the statement. PTI COR GK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.