On Wednesday Swastika took to Facebook to share her ordeal, alleging that she was bused, dragged and thrown out of a taxi by her Uber driver on the streets of Kolkata as she was heading for a shoot.
“He (the driver named Jamshed) got down from the car, opened the door and literally pulled me out... when I lost my temper and started asking for help, he threatened me and called other boys…” the actress wrote in her FB post, alleging the cab driver cancelled the ride mid-way before threatening her.
The local police were quick to respond to her complaint and arrested the accused driver.
Uber expressed its concern after the reported incident.
Twitterati were flabbergasted by the incident and slammed the government of West Bengal for what they called the prevailing “lawlessness” in the state.
If u see one thing is common in all these cases.. They r targeting females traveling alone in @Uber. So we all need to b careful. @Uber_Support
— Rakesh Patil (@PatilRakesh85) 11 July 2019
Its happened again in Kolkata, Bengali TV actress Swastika Dutta harassed by an @Uber_India cab driver.
— Akshay Singh (@Akshaysinghel) 11 July 2019
She said she was abused and thrown out of the car by the driver midway during her trip.
No outrage,Name of driver "Jamshed" https://t.co/499bKqMlt1 pic.twitter.com/2DldwHXQ85
After harassment of @ushoshi, it was time for another actress, Swastika Dutta to become the target of @Uber_India driver, Jamshed & her community in Kolkata. With rapid change of demography in the city, this is becoming inevitable.https://t.co/al1i7ZOfFx
— Prasun Maitra(প্রসূন মৈত্র) (@prasunmaitra) 11 July 2019
Some users connected the incident to religion, while others accused the ruling Trinamool Congress party of West Bengal state of giving political backing to vandalism.
Let's all boycott peaceful drivers.
— Arya Paramanand 🇮🇳 (@paramanand_3) 11 July 2019
We must cancel the booking of driver with peaceful names immediately
Kolkata has voted for Mimi nusrat. So u definitely will have the taste of your choice. Ola-o-uber
— saffron (@Arindam66190973) 11 July 2019
so it has started..hindus being threatened n no seculars speaking up @DeeptiSachdeva_ @manakgupta @tavleen_singh @rahulkanwal hindus dont travel at night..pata nahi kaun secular aur PEACEFUL threat de de tumhein?
— roshan gupta (@roshangupta7) 11 July 2019
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had accused state Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee of appeasing the Muslim community to garner the votes of its members, during the Indian national election campaign.
The Indian state of West Bengal has been in the news in recent months, due to an increase in reported violence, especially since the Indian Parliamentary Elections.
Last month, in an incident similar to that of Swastika, Miss India Universe Ushoshi Sengupta was reportedly attacked by a gang of 15 young thugs on the streets of Kolkata.
