The Karnataka High Court directed that Bengaluru police “shall not harass” Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal and Subrat Kumar Dash, the company’s Head of Homologation Engineering, under the “guise of investigation” into the alleged abetment of the suicide of an employee, Bar and Bench reported.
The order came in response to a petition filed by Aggarwal and Dash on October 17, seeking to quash the FIR that names them under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The FIR was registered following a complaint by Ashwin Kannan, the brother of the deceased, K Aravind.
“The police who are investigating the case registered in Cr No 372/2025 of Subramanyapura Police Station, Bengaluru City, shall not harass the petitioners in the guise of investigation,” the interim order, issued by Justice Mohammad Nawaz, stated.
Ola engineer suicide case
Aravind, 38, died by suicide at his apartment in Chikkalasandra on September 28 after consuming poison. He was living with his parents at the time and was rushed to a hospital, but could not be saved. He left a 28-page suicide note alleging mental harassment by his superiors. In the note, Aravind also claimed that the company had exploited him financially, which caused him “severe distress” and ultimately led him to take his own life, the outlet further reported.
Following a complaint by Kannan, the Bengaluru Police registered an FIR against Aggarwal and Dash on October 6. The complaint was filed on September 30.
The part of the complaint stated that “[Aravind] sustained workplace harassment” and that the company “withheld his salary and dues, causing him severe distress”.
Aravind’s family also flagged a payment of Rs 17.46 lakh credited to his account just two days after the incident as “suspicious.”
Ola Challenged FIR before K’taka HC
Ola, however, denied the allegations. In a statement, the company said that Aravind never raised any complaint or grievance regarding his employment or alleged harassment, and that the FIR has been challenged in the Karnataka High Court.
“During his tenure, Aravind never raised any complaint or grievance regarding his employment or any harassment. His role also did not involve any direct interaction with the company’s top management, including the promoter. We have challenged the registration of the FIR before the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court, and protective orders have been passed in favour of Ola Electric and its officials,” the statement read.
The company also addressed the amount payment to Aravind’s account, explaining that it was intended to provide immediate support to his family.
“In order to provide immediate support to the family, the company promptly facilitated the full and final settlement to his bank account. Ola Electric is fully cooperating with the authorities in their ongoing investigation and remains committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and supportive workplace for all employees.”
Aravind had been employed at Ola Electric since 2022 as a homologation engineer in Bengaluru.
‘Ordered lunch early for parents’
Kannan, in an interview with The Indian Express, said that Aravind opened up to him about the workplace toxicity and ordered the lunch early for parents the day he took the tragic step.
“It looks like he had already decided to kill himself as he had placed an early lunch order for our parents on the day he died,” Kannan said.
He added, “My brother generally shared about the toxic work culture at Ola Electric and the kind of pressure employees suffered. But we did not know that it would go to the extent where he would take his life. I will fight it out, whatever may come.”