Vinod Kumar, the 40-year-old Uber cab driver, who allegedly molested a woman passenger over the weekend, was arrested by Gurgaon police on Tuesday under section 354A of the IPC and later granted bail the same day.

Vinod Kumar, the 40-year-old Uber cab driver, who allegedly molested a woman passenger over the weekend, was arrested by Gurgaon police on Tuesday under section 354A of the IPC and later granted bail the same day.

A complaint was received by the police over email around 8 pm on Monday regarding the incident and an FIR was lodged in the case under section 354 A (molestation) of the IPC against 40-year-old Vinod after the woman accused him of forcing himself upon her, “trying to kiss and molest her” during a ride to Gurgaon on Sunday. However, the driver claiming innocence told Firstpost that he neither molested her, nor tried to kiss her. "I only shook the passenger's hand and touched it to my forehead as a way of saying goodbye. "I am innocent," the driver, a native of Shahabad village in Delhi, who joined Uber on 4 May, 2015 told Firstpost.

Sources in know of the development, told Firstpost that the investigating officer has said the driver may have held the passenger's hand for a few seconds longer than would be deemed appropriate for a handshake, which is enough reason for booking him under Section 354A of the IPC.

Vinod, a resident of Shahbad Mohammadpur village in Dwarka area of Delhi, had been charged with making physical contact and advances, involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures. A case was registered on Monday. The driver reached the Gurgaon Sector 56 police station on Tuesday morning after police asked him to join the investigation. Vinod was later produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate Iram Hassan. After listening to arguments from both sides, the magistrate granted him bail.

The 21-year-old professional dancer had boarded an Uber cab, a Swift Dzire, from Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar after her dance classes around 9.37 pm. The destination was Suncity township, Gurgaon. Her trip ended at 11:33 pm; 30 May, 2015. However, during the middle of her journey, she stopped the taxi near the Gurgaon toll road before the incident, and sat in front 'so that she would be in a position to force the car to stop if there was an emergency.'

“On the way, near Delhi Cantonment area, the woman in the car was passing through a lonely stretch and my daughter felt uneasy. She decided to sit in the front as then she might be able to pull the hand brakes and get out of the car in the event of an emergency or any untoward incident. She asked the driver to stop and she sat beside him while her bags were left on the rear seat. They then got talking,” the 21-year-old’s mother was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

However, when Firstpost cross-questioned Kumar, he maintained that they never passed through any secluded area and the reason why she sat in front was because she had three big bags on the seat next to her and was rather uncomfortable.

"We stopped the car near Dhaulan Kaun outside the army area. The girl had three big bags with her. She had even kept her phone in front to charge. I asked her that if she was feeling uncomfortable due to lack of space. After that she sat in front and asked me questions about my family and I did the same."

However, the mother of the victim has alleged that the cabbie then made a passing remark about the Uber driver who had raped a 27-year old woman executive in New Delhi last December.

“I respect women a lot, unlike the driver who was jailed for raping a woman in his cab around six months ago. He did a detestable thing and he was an obnoxious man,” Kumar allegedly told his 21-year-old passenger.

When questioned about this remark, Kumar told Firstpost that yes indeed he had read about the Uber rape case in the papers and during his conversation with the woman passenger it did come up. " I am a family man. I live with my wife and children. I even told her about how I want to educate my own children and had big dreams for them. Why would I molest her then?" he said.

The victim further alleged that Kumar complimented the victim."“Aap bahut acche lag rahe ho,” he allegedly told her at least four times, to which the passenger chose not to react. She also did not press the SOS button which immediately connects the rider with local police as well as alerts Uber’s support team who immediately contact the rider as well via phone.

"When I got down from the car, he passed on two of my three bags. When I asked for the third bag, he held me and kissed me. When I tried to push him back, he also molested me,” the victim is quoted as saying by Zee.

However, another report by Express quotes the victim's brother as saying "Once they reached Suncity township, the woman got off the car as did Vinod. Vinod opened the door and helped her with the bags.

“He offered my sister his hand which she shook. However, he, to her surprise, pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it. Before my sister could react, he yanked her towards him by her hand. She resisted him by slipping her hand out of his. She ducked, pulled the third bag out of the car and briskly walked into the apartment where her friends were waiting for her,” her brother said.

The accused cab driver was questioned at the police station. Preliminary investigation revealed he had kissed the woman's hand on Saturday night. The accused was produced before a judicial magistrate, who then released him on bail.

Confirming the incident, Uber general manager Gagan Bhatia said the accused driver’s services had been deactivated till investigations in the case were on. He also said that the driver partner has a valid PSV badge and commercial licence issued by the Delhi authority— all confirming this driver partner had no prior recorded history of any inappropriate conduct.

“Our team reached out to the rider via phone within a few minutes of receiving the feedback. Many members of the Uber team have spoken with the driver. Immediate action has already been taken with the driver-partner’s service deactivated while the matter is being investigated.Over the last 36 hours we have worked closely with the Gurgaon Police to share all relevant information pertaining to the trip including vehicle and driver partner details, GPS trace, and feedback history, etc. In fact, our team also helped bring the driver partner to Sector 56 Police Station within an hour of the FIR being filed to ensure the investigating officers were able to speak with him immediately, record an official statement and expedite their investigation."

This is the second incident of crimes against women involving drivers of the cab service providing company. In December last year, 27—year—old financial consultant was allegedly raped by a cab driver working in partnership with Uber.

Meanwhile, in a stern warning, Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said the government will not consider applications for licence from app-based taxi operators Uber and Ola Cabs unless they comply with the existing ban imposed on them. The AAP government has decided to again write to the Centre to block the apps of these two taxi aggregators and take strict action against them for not complying with the ban order.

The government on May 28 had directed Uber and Ola Cabs to submit details of their drivers and vehicles if they wanted to "regularise" their services in the city, but according to the minister, they have "not turned up" so far.