Nagpur: A crash involving an illegally operating app-based bike taxi on Saturday night left its driver dead and two others injured in Pratap Nagar, underscoring how banned bike taxi services continue to operate with impunity despite repeated warnings and enforcement drives.The accident occurred at Radhe Mangalam Chowk. Pratap Nagar police have registered a case of rash driving and causing death due to negligence against the bike taxi driver and the driver of an SUV involved in the incident. The deceased has been identified as Vivek Borkar, 38, a resident of Janki Nagar. The injured include Anup Singh, who hails from Bikaner in Rajasthan, and Ritesh Surana, 50, a resident of Gopal Nagar. While Singh was discharged after treatment, Surana continues to undergo medical care.
According to police, Singh, who works with an infrastructure company and is involved in hydraulic machine-related work, travelled from Delhi to Chandrapur for an assignment at a cement factory. On Saturday, he arrived in Nagpur by a private bus and got down at Chhatrapati Square bus stand. From there, he booked a bike taxi to reach a hotel on Hingna Road where he was scheduled to stay.After some time, bike taxi driver Borkar arrived to pick him up. Singh sat as a pillion rider, and the two began their journey towards Hingna Road. “The bike taxi driver was speeding and near Radhe Mangalam Square, he dashed his 2-wheeler into a moped, which was crossing the road,” said API Amol Tambe.Following the collision, Singh, Borkar, and the moped rider Surana fell on the road. At the same time, a speeding SUV coming from Padole Hospital side ran over Borkar’s head and fled the spot. Local residents rushed to help and shifted the injured to a nearby private hospital, where Borkar was declared dead.Police have launched investigation and are scanning CCTV footage from nearby areas to trace the SUV driver who fled after the accident.The incident once again brought attention to the continued operation of illegal app-based bike taxis in the city. Despite repeated action by the transport department, such services continue to operate.Meanwhile, Vidarbha App-Based Taxi Union, led by its president Deepak Sane, wrote a letter to district collector Vipin Itankar and Regional Transport Office (RTO), demanding strict action against app-based bike taxi services allegedly operating illegally. The union also demanded that the deceased driver’s family should receive insurance compensation.Speaking to TOI, RTO (City) Kiran Bidkar said bike taxis are illegal. “We took action against them many times, but they start operations every now and then. In this case, we will write a letter to city police to also book the owner of the company, as it is operating without getting an aggregator’s licence from the transport department,” said the RTO.
