Uber Driver Arrested in Noida After Threatening Female Passengers with Rod Over Route Dispute

An Uber driver in Noida was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly threatening female passengers with a rod during a dispute over the route.

Tashu Gupta, one of the passengers, had booked the Uber from Botanical Garden Metro station to Sector 128 on Tuesday. She was traveling with four friends in a car with Uttar Pradesh registration.

The confrontation began when Gupta asked the driver, identified as Brajesh, to take an underpass instead of a U-turn to avoid traffic congestion. According to Gupta, the driver responded aggressively to this request.

"The driver, without any provocation, started speaking very rudely and said 'sit quietly, I will take the route shown on the map'," she shared on social media.

Gupta reported that the driver used abusive language, verbally threatened them, and attempted physical aggression.

"When we requested him to speak politely...he started saying things like 'who do you think you are to tell me what to do? I have 10 like you working for me, and I drive 12-13 cars,' and continued abusing us," she wrote.

Fearing for their safety, the women informed the driver they would report him to authorities.

"He said things like 'do whatever you want, go and get me hanged' and started abusing again and was about to hit me as he was very aggressive. I was sitting right beside him," Gupta recounted.

"We asked him to pull the car to the side so we could get off. He said 'I will teach you all a lesson'. When I was stepping out of the car, he pushed me saying 'nikal yahan se aur paise de' [Get out of here and pay]."

When the passengers refused to pay, the situation escalated dramatically.

"He parked the car, got out, went to his car trunk, saying 'tu ruk, tujhe to main abhi batata hun, aaj tujhe maar ke jail bhi jana pade to chala jaunga' [Wait, I will teach you a lesson, today even if I have to kill you and go to jail, I will do it] and pulled out a white rod to hit us," she added.

Gupta also stated that the driver aggressively chased one of her friends who was recording the incident and attempted to grab her phone. The women tried contacting local authorities and helplines but initially received no response.

Video evidence shared online shows the driver verbally abusing the women, telling them to "get out, run," and approaching them threateningly with a rod from his trunk.

Uber responded to the incident, stating: "Hey there, this is concerning. Such behaviour is unacceptable, and we prioritise your safety above all else. Kindly send your registered Uber account contact details through Direct Message, and our safety team will contact you shortly."

According to reports, Noida police arrested the driver following a formal complaint filed by the passengers.