Driver held for demanding money in exchange for phone left in car

Police on Sunday arrested a driver working for a ride-hailing company for trying to extort money from a passenger in exchange for a mobile phone she had left in his car.

According to police officials, a woman used an online application to book a taxi and left her mobile phone in the car when she arrived at her destination in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The officials said when her brother called the driver, Hunain Ali, from another phone, the latter refused to return her mobile phone and instead demanded Rs10,000 in exchange for the phone.

Following the incident, the woman approached the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police, after which, the police traced and arrested the driver, recovered the phone from him and handed it over to her.

SHO Nasrullah Khan said a complaint was received from a woman who had taken an Uber ride from Clifton and left her phone in the car. The officer added that her brother called the Uber helpline through email and informed them about the phone, after which the driver contacted the brother and demanded money to return the phone.

The driver also told the brother that he would later tell him the location where he must come with the money to get the phone back. The woman then contacted SSP East Ghulam Azfar Mahesar and informed him about the incident. The SSP took immediate notice and directed a special police party to go along with the complainants to a location in Gulshan-e-Iqbal where the driver had told them to arrive at.

The police party arrested the driver and shifted him and his car to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station. However, no extortion case was registered against him as he had not threatened the complainants with any dire consequence in case they did not pay the amount.

Speaking to The News, SSP Mahesar said the driver was just blackmailing and asking money in exchange for the phone which the woman had herself left in the taxi. The SSP added that the driver was also found to be a drug addict and some narcotic substance was also found from his possession.