The Bengaluru Police booked Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on Monday following the alleged suicide of an employee. The deceased was identified as K Aravind, a 38-year-old engineer who had worked with the company till his death in late September. The company has challenged the registration of an FIR before the Karnataka High Court — with protective orders being passed in its favour.
According to an Indian Express report, Aggarwal and several others have been named in the FIR for abetment of suicide. The late employee had reportedly left behind a lengthy note claiming harassment by the company management. K Aravind had joined Ola Electric as a homologation engineer in 2022 and worked there till his death on September 28. A case was registered in the matter on October 6. The police have also named Subrat Kumar Dash (the head of vehicle homologations and regulations) and several others in the FIR.
‘He never interacted with top management’
The company said it was “deeply saddened” by the incident and confirmed that Aravind had been working with Ola Electric for more than three and a half years. A spokesperson however denied direct interaction between the engineer and top management during his tenure. Ola also said that it was ” fully cooperating with the authorities in their ongoing investigation and remains committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and supportive workplace for all employees”.
“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 Honble Karnataka High Court and protective orders have been passed in favor of Ola Electric and its officials,” a spokesperson told Financial Express.
Second suicide case in six months
The incident came mere months after another Ola employee committed suicide — allegedly due to extreme work pressure. The incident had first come to light in May this year after a Reddit post detailing the circumstances went viral and raised serious questions about the work culture at the company.
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