Having been out of work for some days, Nazrul, who was killed in an accident on Sunday night, found a ray of hope when he found work as a cabbie, now registered with app based taxi aggregator Uber. But on his very first day into the new job, he met with a fatal accident, his family said.
Minazul, a distant relative of the victim, said Nazrul used to drive a private car but lost his job last week due to a disagreement with his previous employer.
Minazul’s employer Taimur Islam allowed Nazrul to drive one of his vehicles. Nazrul joined Uber and looked ahead for a stable source of income and one where he had some degree of independence, said Mr. Islam.
Those dreams, however, were cut short as minutes after dropping a passenger who had booked his services, Nazrul’s car was hit by a speeding BMW, the crash claiming his life. Mr. Islam had last spoken to him a few hours before the accident and enquired about dinner only to find that Nazrul was more concerned about the next booking.
Nazrul had come to the Capital from West Bengal’s South Dinajpur many years ago and worked mostly as a driver in the Delhi NCR region, changing employers on the way.
The loss has left his family members in a financial crunch. Nazrul’s wife works as a domestic help, his four-year-old in school going son and daughter in a playschool. His income, along with his wife’s, was not sufficient to meet the expenses of the family, said Minazul. Nazrul’s parents are said to be in their native place. He also sent money to them periodically.
His family lives near Galleria Market in Gurgaon’s Sector 4 where Minazul also lives. Alleging that the police response was far from swift, Minazul wondered if the accused in this case will also “get away using his influence like some other high profile drivers have in the past.”