GURGAON: The Gurgaon police have traced the blogger and the autorickshaw driver who were allegedly attacked in Manesar a few days back. The victim had written a blog post about the incident which later went viral on the internet. Later, the blogger had deleted the post.

While the blogger refused to file a police complaint, on the statement of the auto driver, a case of manhandling has been filed against unidentified persons with the Manesar police station.

A day after the media went into frenzy over the blogger's revelation of harassment in Manesar, the story has now turned out to be largely a hoax.

The blogger had uploaded a post on a social networking site narrating how he and few women, who had come to Manesar for a job interview, were threatened with rape by a group of hoodlums. "We will not rape you like they did in the Delhi gang-rape case, but if you consent, we'll let you off," the attackers had said according to the blog. The blog went on to narrate how the two women were threatened by the unidentified goons after their autorickshaw driver was beaten up for "entering their territory".

Comparing Manesar with Jharkhand , the blogger wrote that on September 15, a group of job seekers had hired autorickshaws to-and-fro between MG Road Metro Station and an IT company office. "On the way back, the auto I was in was stopped by some 15 men who jumped out of a Toyota Qualis," the blogger wrote.

The men also stopped another auto in which three friends, two of them women, were travelling. Carrying knives and rods, the men assaulted the auto driver and when the blogger tried to help him, he was threatened. He then rushed to the rescue of the women in the other auto. The driver of the other auto was also injured and the men were allegedly threatening the women with rape and sexual assault.

After comments and solidarity started to pour in from all over the world, the blogger suddenly deleted the post.

As the news spread , the Gurgaon police swung into action. They traced the blogger as well as an autorickshaw driver only to find that the story was mostly a hoax.

"The blogger refused to lodge complaints saying that he was not hurt or manhandled. The autorickshaw driver, who was ferrying him, gave us a statement refuting the claim that there was a second auto or there were women involved," said Rahul Sharma , DCP (south), who is investigating the case.

According to the auto driver, the blogger and he were on the kuccha road when they tried to overtake a Toyota Qualis. "This enraged the eight boys who were in the vehicle and they threatened the auto driver. They sent the blogger in another auto while four of the boy sat in the auto and made him travel to Gurgaon. Finally, the accused got down on NH-8," Sharma said.

On basis of the auto driver's statement, the police have registered a case of manhandling. "I would also like to tell that contrary to the blogger's claim, no call was made to the PCR by anybody from that area as the call records have been checked," Sharma added.

When contacted, a senior officer in the Manesar police station confirmed that an FIR has been registered against 5 to 6 unidentified persons under Sections 147, 149 (rioting), 323 (hurt), 506 (threatened to kill), 341(wrongful restraint), 384 (extortion) of the IPC. The auto driver said that they did not rob him.

"Going by what the auto driver has told us, the blogger has exaggerated. The driver, who registered the complaint said, there were no girls or any other auto on the road, so there's not case of a rape threat. We have to go by his words because the blogger has removed his blog and refused to give any statement. The social media cannot be a basis of authenticating a crime and the media should abstain from basing their reports on the same," said commissioner of police Alok Mittal.

When asked if any action will be taken against the blogger, the commissioner refused to comment. He also avoided disclosing the name of the auto driver or the blogger.

