No City in India is Safe

[Prasanthi Uppalapati]

Source: Sourangshu Giri, Infosys

Courtesy: Rakesh Kumar Mahanty, DSTWS

Hi All,

I am writing this because i feel u should all know about it. It is about the level of safety around here in Pune or anywhere in India. Is there anyone you can trust ??

 

On Friday 22nd February at around 8.30 in the evening I was on my way to Mumbai waiting for one of those carpools. One which stops at wakad bridge and drops you Mumbai for 150 bucks. So this blue color indica stopped and the driver was asking people for Mumbai. Since there is no street light in that area  I couldn't see the car no. The driver kept asking for Mumbai. When one person decided to back out, I decided to get in the car. I got in the car and was sitting in the middle with 2 guys on each side of me. There were two other in the car i.e one the driver and the other sitting beside him.  The car started and all of them were quietly sitting as if they don’t know each other. I don't know why all of the sudden i felt something was fishy. I told the driver to stop as I remembered some urgent work. But as soon as the next stop came the driver didn't stop and the person on my right covered my mouth and my hand while the other person on my left held my neck and other hand using great force. I got scared and started shouting but they told me to shut or else they would kill me.They told me to bend and sit pressing my neck and then put a cloth on my head so that i don't see anything i.e neither their face nor the direction in which they are taking me. I just shut myself out of fear. They started stealing everything and asking me all kinds of question. They took my money, my specs without which I couldn't see anything , my laptop, my cloths, my mp4 player and almost everything. Things worth around 70k. They even asked me my atm pin and I even spoke the truth fearing what if they actually check and find out its wrong and kill me. The lowest of my life was when these people were discussing whether to kill me throw my body away or just leave me. I was literally begging for my life. Then they finally took me to some place and tied my hands, took me out of the car in some deserted area with bushes all around me. They then tore my t-shirt tied my mouth with it as tightly as possible. This is when again I felt I would get killed. But then they pushed me to the ground and tied my legs and ran away. I had no idea where I was and I couldn't move my legs or hands. It was scary. I somehow managed to untie my hands and then my legs and then my mouth. I couldn't see anything but ran in the direction of the light. Suddenly I saw a building and luckily a window with light. Ran towards it and got all the help. It was an army area in Dehu road off old Pune-Mumbai highway.

 

But my point here is please don't ever travel in these car pools from wakad. Especially when you are alone. These people work in group and act as if they don't know each other and later threaten to kill and steal everything. Please ensure you either travel in bus or with someone whom you can trust or with fellow Infoscians. Girls please travel with someone you know and can trust. Times are so bad nothing here in India is safe. Just make sure you don't travel in these car pools because you never know what might happen to you. You can never trust these people. IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE FOR ME BUT I AM JUST LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. It still gives me chills just to think about it. 

 

So a request to all please don't ever take carpools which drop you to Mumbai from wakad bridge. These people can never be trusted and please don't leave office late as well. Complete your work as fast as possible and leave as early as possible. Ladies please leave early by buses or with someone you trust. Carrying a pepper spray with yourself all the time would be great.Today it was me but tomorrow it can be anyone. And these people can come up with any ideas anytime to steal from us. So please stay cautious and alert all the time.

Please forward this mail to all friends and relatives so as to ensure their safety. Please forward this to your friends across all DCs so as to alert them and ensure their safety.