Woman locks cab driver in hotel room, flees with his car & phone

Time of India

11-05-2025

Bengaluru: A chance encounter during a work trip to Karwar has left a driver without his livelihood. The man found himself locked in a hotel room, while a woman and her accomplice disappeared with his car and mobile phone, vanishing into the highway of Karnataka.Ananth Kumar, 39, who drives a cab and lives in HMT Layout, filed a complaint with police, describing how his trust was betrayed.
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During the last week of April, while waiting for his passengers, who were sightseeing in Karwar, a woman in her mid-20s approached him.After a brief conversation, she learnt he was from Bengaluru and expressed interest in hiring him for an upcoming tour of Bengaluru and Mysuru. They exchanged numbers before he returned to his regular duties. In the days that followed, the woman maintained contact through occasional WhatsApp calls. Then, around 9.30pm of May 6, she phoned Ananth to tell him she would be arriving in Bengaluru the next morning, requesting his services as previously discussed. When Ananth explained he was in Hubballi for work, she agreed to meet him after his return. The next day, at precisely 11am, she called to confirm her arrival in Bengaluru. "She asked Ananth to book accommodation near Majestic. He said he was unfamiliar with hotels in that area, and suggested a place near Tumakuru Road," Shankar Nayak, Ananth's brother-in-law and owner of the vehicle, said. She provided her Aadhaar card for the booking, and Ananth secured a room at PV Residency in Sidedahalli. After collecting her near Eight Mile on Tumakuru Road, he drove her to the hotel.While he waited in the car park, she said she needed to visit a nearby beauty parlour and suggested he could freshen up while waiting. The moment he entered the bathroom, she latched the door from outside.With Ananth trapped inside, she took his mobile phone from the table along with his car keys. She then met her male associate, who had been waiting nearby, and together, they drove away in Ananth's Hyundai Accent.Ananth's cries for help eventually alerted hotel staff, who freed him from the locked room. Investigation revealed the pair drove towards Tumakuru, then to Hiriyur, Chitradurga, after which the cops lost their trail. The hotel's security cameras had no recorded backup. "We suspect there may be more to the complainant's story about why he booked the room. However, we won't jump to conclusions until we apprehend the suspects and uncover more details," another investigating officer said.