Felicitated for making Delhi safer: Woman cabbie who helped nab carjacker, auto driver who returned Rs 1 L
The man on the bike was not far off, and they caught on to him. “The officers spoke to him, and then one of them came and told me that the man was probably trying to steal my car,” she said.
4 min read
Sunita Sunita (38) is among the few women drivers in Delhi who can be seen behind the wheel in a BMW. A single mother to three daughters, she has been working at the Leela Palace Hotel as a chauffeur since 2016. She separated from her husband about two decades ago because of, what she calls, his “alcohol addiction”. As a driver, she has worked odd and gruelling hours to raise her daughters.
Her story of strength was in the spotlight on Wednesday as she was honoured by the Delhi Traffic Police and the Highway Hero Trust — along with 19 other taxi, auto and bus drivers — for providing safe and reliable experience to their passengers. Sunita’s contribution that was acknowledged at the event was getting an alleged carjacker caught in 2015.
Back then, she was working with Sakhi cab service catering to women who worked night shifts. Recalling the night she came across the impostor, she said, “It was about 2.30 am. I usually worked odd hours. I parked near Nehru Place, and called my daughters to check on them.” It was a routine for her to call her daughters. That night, the call was, however, interrupted. “A man came and knocked on my window. He said he was a police officer,” said Sunita.
The man told him to roll down the car window. But she felt something odd and opened the window only a little. “He said because of women like me, police officers get blamed for late night incidents with ‘ladies’. He then asked me to show my papers. I found it weird, closed my window and drove ahead.” In the rear mirror, she could see him leaving on a motorcycle in a hurry.
A km away, Sunita spotted some patrolling officers. “I told the police officers about that man. They asked me if I was willing to drive along with them to the road where I saw him last. I did that,” she recounted, her eyes lit with excitement.
The man on the bike was not far off, and they caught on to him. “The officers spoke to him, and then one of them came and told me that the man was probably trying to steal my car,” she said.
Another awardee at Wednesday’s event was Sanver Khan (59), a father of four who has been driving his rented auto in Delhi-NCR for over 25 years.
Last August, on a cloudy afternoon in the Capital, Sanver was at the Barakhamba Road when a man deboarded a government vehicle and boarded his auto. “The man said he was in a hurry to attend a meeting and the car was stuck in the traffic. He wanted to go near the Punjab Bhawan and asked me if I knew a shortcut. I nodded and eventually dropped him to the destination,” said Sanver.
But after dropping the man, halfway through, Sanver noticed a bag in the passenger seat. “I opened it and saw some papers and two bundles of notes. On one of the papers, a phone number was written,” he said.
Sanver, a member of Highway Hero Trust, then called Balwant Singh Bhullar, who runs the organisation working for the welfare and safety of member drivers and their families.
“Bhullar sir asked me to dial the number. I did that. My passenger was an IPS officer and I returned the bag to him the next day at Punjab Bhawan. He told me that he didn’t expect that I would find him so soon. It was the proudest moment of my life,” he recalled. The bag had around Rs 1 lakh in cash in it.
At Wednesday’s felicitation event, Special CP (Traffic) Ajay Chaudhary praised the big and small contributions of all the 20 awardees. “Any visitor in Delhi generally gets the first impression of the city during contact with taxi drivers. The impression of the visitor lingers on for the life as experience of the city,” he said.
Balwant Singh Bhullar of the Highway Hero Trust, who was present at the event, said that the event motivated drivers like him to represent Delhi to the tourists from home and beyond.
You May Like
