Delhi Rape Accused Arrested in Mathura by Police

Mathura: In a major breakthrough, police have arrested the Uber cab driver who has been accused of raping a 25-year-old woman in Delhi on Friday night. Delhi Police traced down the accused to his hometown Mathura, from where the vehicle used in the crime was also impounded.

"Prime accused in this case has been arrested. He will be produced in the court tomorrow," DCP North Madhur Varma told CNN-IBN.

"The accused was living in a rented premise in Mathura. His house was locked, he was living there for more than an year. He owns a car. He was picked up half an hour ago and handed over to Delhi Police," Laxmi Singh, DIG, Agra Range told CNN-IBN.

"He had fled to his native place. His number was traced from there and he was picked up based on the location of his mobile number. As of now, he does not have a history of criminal activities. He was running a cab service. We had got inputs from Delhi. We traced the car from toll tax he paid. From the car number we traced his place and then his mobile number was traced. Based on the mobile number he was picked up," Singh added.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, is being brought to Delhi for further investigation.

The crime was allegedly committed on Friday evening when the victim was returning home after a dinner. She had taken a Uber cab and fell asleep during the journey. Yadav reportedly took her to an isolated place an raped her. The victim had managed to take a photograph of the vehicle's number plate which helped the police in making a lead in the investigation.

According to the police, neither the driver was verified nor the cab had a GPS tracker.

The police have also issued a notice to Uber, a US-based cab service provider, under section 161 CrPC to join investigation in the case. The company has issued a statement, saying that it was providing all help to the police in the investigation.

"Our thoughts are with the victim of this terrible crime and we are working with the police as they investigate. We will assist them in any way we can. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver's account following allegations of a serious incident, which we have done. "Safety is Uber's highest priority and in India, we work with licenced driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option, with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform," said Evelyn Tay, an Uber spokeswoman.