GUJARATI ACTRESS NIILAM PAANCHAL ALLEGES THREAT, ABUSE BY CAB DRIVER; MISSES TRAIN, COPS STEP IN AFTER HER TWEETS

AHMEDABAD: A tense cab ride cost Gujarati film actress and national and state award winner Niilam Paanchal her train to Mumbai on Friday, after the driver allegedly misbehaved, drove unusually slow, and took a detour that was not shown on the navigation map.

The episode left Paanchal alarmed enough to live-tweet her distress and tag the Gujarat and Ahmedabad city police, prompting an immediate police response.

Paanchal, who was travelling from Bodakdev to Kalupur railway station to catch a 2.50pm Mumbai-bound Shatabdi Express, boarded her cab at 2 pm after the app estimated a 30-minute travel time. But the ride quickly turned uncomfortable. "Right from the beginning, he was non-cooperative," Paanchal told TOI. The driver refused to help with her luggage, insisted she keep it next to her on the rear seat, and then crawled through the city at around 30 km/h.

When Paanchal questioned the detour and low speed, the driver brushed aside the map directions, claiming the suggested route had heavy traffic. As the delay grew, so did his aggression. "Near Commerce College, when I asked him to speed up, he threatened to drop me midway," she said. He allegedly abused her as well, said police. Afraid she would be stranded, she stayed silent until they reached Kalupur at 2.51 pm—just in time to watch her train pull out of the station.

By then, Kalupur police, who had rushed to locate her after seeing her tweets, found the cab had already left. Inspector H R Vaghela said Paanchal declined to file an FIR, opting only for an application. "We are tracing the driver and will call him for questioning," Vaghela said.

The Ahmedabad traffic police later confirmed on ‘X' that Paanchal was safe, the cab's details had been secured, and efforts were on to trace the vehicle. Police personnel at the railway station also coordinated with railway staff to help her find another train, it added.