DDADU apologizes for June 15 incident

Dimapur District Auto Drivers’ Union (DDADU) has apologized for the June 15 incident wherein a female passenger reportedly jumped from a moving autorickshaw, and assured strict action against the accused autorickshaw driver if found guilty.
Addressing a press conference at his residence here on Thursday, DDADU president Tito Yepthomi shared details based on internal inquiry conducted by the union after meeting the autorickshaw driver.
He claimed that a male passenger initially hired the autorickshaw from Rail Gate for traveling to 4th Mile. En route, at Airport Junction, he said a lady signaled the autorickshaw to halt, to which the male passenger reportedly asked the driver to stop and pick her up.
Tito claimed both the lady and the man had a brief conversation before both boarding the autorickshaw and continuing the journey together. After some time, he stated that the male passenger requested the driver to take him to Showuba so that he could collect money from his mother to pay the fare.
While on the way, he claimed that the female passenger asked the driver to stop the auto. However, due to heavy traffic behind, the driver was unable to halt immediately. But, as the driver began slowing down to pull over, the female passenger suddenly jumped out of the moving vehicle, attracting attention of the bystanders who apprehended both the driver and the male passenger.
Expressing deep regret over the incident and extended apologies on behalf of the union to the victim, Tito confirmed that the driver in question was a registered DDADU member, and assured that the union would take strict action if the driver was found guilty by the police and would not allow him to continue as a driver under DDADU. He also urged the public not to hastily blame the auto driver, suggesting that the alleged misconduct might have been committed by the male passenger too, clarifying that the male passenger and the autorickshaw driver were not known to each other.
Since the matter was currently under police investigation, he appealed for patience until facts were established through proper legal channels.
Sources said that one of the accused, reportedly a minor boy, was currently under the care of Juvenile Justice Board, while the auto driver was in judicial custody at the Central Jail here.