Starlet assault case: Auto driver, aide 'merely' wanted to fleece Neelam Singh

MUMBAI: The autorickshaw driver and his aide, arrested for assaulting starlet Neelam Singh, have told the police they intended to knock out a large sum of money from her by driving her around the fringes of the city for long. Neelam (21) boarded the auto at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus after returning from a trip to Jhansi on Saturday. The accused panicked when she began to ask them questions about the route and one of them tried to throttle her.
"The auto driver has been identified as Anil Sharma (30) and his friend as Satish Singh (27). Sharma said he wasn't well-versed with the route to Andheri from LTT. Satish volunteered to accompany him, claiming to know the route perfectly. He shared the driver's seat with Sharma, which is illegal," said an officer from the Tilak Nagar police station. Sharma first steered the vehicle to Thane and then to Mira Road via Ghodbunder Road. By then, Neelam figured out that she was being driven along a longwinded route on purpose.
After Neelam lodged a complaint against the duo, the police began questioning autorickshaw drivers at LTT. Auto drivers work in batches, some during the day and others at night. Neelam had noted down four digits from the number plate of Sharma's auto. The police rounded up all drivers whose vehicle number plates had the digits that Neelam wrote down. They then found an acquaintance of Sharma who told them the vehicle was from Bhandup. He gave them Sharma's address and phone number. Posing as drivers, policemen called up Sharma, who boasted of the assault on the starlet. Sharma was picked up from his residence while he was asleep on Saturday.
Neelam told TOI she had lost faith in the emergency helpline 100. "After a group of fishermen came to my rescue, I dialled 100, but the cops who took my call merely told me to go to the nearest police station. I decided to head home to Andheri and later phoned the police control room. A policewoman answered and heard me out. But instead of helping, she asked why I had waited so long to inform the control room. I was stunned. What would any woman in my situation be expected to do?" Neelam said. "The emergency helpline and police control room are supposed to be custodians of our safety. But how can we rely on them if their personnel have such a callous attitude. I feel women are just not safe in Mumbai anymore."
A metropolitan court has remanded Sharma and his friend in police custody till Tuesday. Sharma is a Bhandup resident, while his friend resides in Govandi.