Uber Official, Shailesh Sawlani, Attacked In India Amid Anger Over Rape Case

Shailesh Sawlani, Uber’s general manager in India, was attacked in Mumbai after he left a transport ministry official’s office Wednesday, according to local reports. The identity of the attacker, who attempted to hit Sawlani, was not immediately known.

Sawlani was visiting the ministry to discuss the rape case in New Delhi, where a woman was sexually assaulted, allegedly by a cab driver affiliated to the company's cab service, IBN Live, a local news network reported. In the meeting attended by Sawlani, it was decided that all radio taxi companies would be now required to provide their driver databases to government officials by Thursday.

According to an update by NDTV, a local news network, Sawlani was attacked by an aide to Nitesh Rane, a local politician from the Congress party in Mumbai. The meeting was being held even as Eric Alexander, the head of Uber’s operation in the Asia Pacific region, was questioned by New Delhi police.

"We have asked him to submit documents under eight pointers which include details of all the taxis and its drivers working with them and how they checked their antecedents as well as the details of the directors of the company," a senior police official said, according to the Hindustan Times.

The company has been severely criticized after a 27-year-old woman filed a complaint that she was raped by a Uber cab driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, on Friday.

Several cities saw protests against the company while authorities questioned San Francisco-based Uber’s process of selecting its drivers and the steps taken by the company to ensure the safety of women passengers. Yadav has a series of criminal charges filed against him and is also facing a trial for a 2013 rape case. He was out on bail at the time of the latest crime.

Delhi and the southern Indian state of Telangana have banned Uber’s services, and accused the company of cheating customers by promising them a safe ride with drivers who are verified, while other cities around the world too have acted against the company's operations.