Auto drivers offer shady service

When unsuspecting out-of-towners hit the city in the nocturnal hour, the first taste of Hyderabad almost plays out like a scene from the film Ek Chalis Ki Last Local. Young girls throng the auto stands in and around the Secunderabad station area and proposition these travellers to “share” a ride with them. Greedy auto drivers egg them on, in the hope of making anything between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 for this “special service” they offer, post-midnight.
Swearing never to take the late night trains to Secunderabad again, Rajeev Saravan from Chennai, who is a student HCU, recounts his “horrible” experience. “I was travelling alone to the city and I landed at the Secunderabad station at around 1 am. Around 15 auto drivers hounded me as soon as I stepped out on the road looking for a ride. Some auto drivers were accompanied by young women in their 20s, dressed in garish clothes with loud make-up and body language. Fighting for my attention, these women told me that they want to go to the ‘same’ destination as I do. This even before I mentioned where I’m headed. It was quite a scary experience. I walked away from the place as fast as I could, even as they persistently kept following me,” he says.
Dhanush J., a student of EFLU, had no such luck. He boarded an auto at 12.30 am when the auto stopped a few metres ahead to “pick up” another “passenger” without his consent. “even before I could protest, a young girl hopped into the auto and started striking a conversation. She asked me where I’m headed and told me she could keep me ‘company’. Since the whole set-up was so shady, I insisted that I get dropped off but the auto guy kept evading my queries and told me that I should ‘entertain’ the lady. It was so creepy that I forced the auto driver to stop at the next stand,” says Danush, who explains that this has become a thriving “midnight business” of sorts in the Secunderabad station area.
“My friends who usually take the late-night trains after their night shifts have all faced the same situations. Sometimes the auto drivers, who work in collaboration with these women, are quite forthright about their proposition and offer to provide ‘entertainment’ if we pay Rs 500. For Rs 1,000, they offer to take you to a secluded spot and give you alone-time with the girl. It’s a surprise that cops don’t take any action. Our attempts to report this to the police have been in vain, as the scenario still remains the same every night.”
Ask them about this menace and an evidently disinterested DCP feigns ignorance. V.B. Kamalasan Reddy, DCP, task force, says, “We are not aware of this. We will look into this matter if any case is reported.”