Ola engineer ends life in Bengaluru, case filed against Bhavish Agarwal

An engineer employed at Ola Electric died by suicide on September 28 in Bengaluru over alleged mental harassment by his superiors.

The deceased was identified as K Aravind.

In a statement, Ola Electric said that Aravind had never raised the issue regarding mental harassment.

According to a report by NDTV, Aravind consumed poison on September 28 and died on the same day while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

“Aravind, who had been working as a homologation engineer since 2022 at Ola, consumed poison on September 28 at his residence in Bengaluru’s Chikkalasandra,” the Bengaluru police were quoted as saying by NDTV.

A case of unnatural death was registered by the police.

Following Arvind’s death, his brother found a 28-page note addressed to him in which the Ola engineer accused Subrat Kumar Das and Bhavish Aggarwal of workplace harassment and pressure.

The note said that Aravind was mentally tortured and denied his salary and allowances, which ultimately drove him to kill himself. After reading the note, Arvind’s brother also found a suspicious transfer of Rs 17,46,313 to Arvind’s bank account on September 30.

When Arvind’s brother approached Das for clarification, the latter reportedly gave vague answers. The engineer’s brother approached the police, based on his complaint a case was registered against Bhavish Aggarwal, Das, and others on October 6.

The FIR alleges that constant harassment, humiliation, and financial exploitation by his superiors were directly responsible for Aravind’s death.

His family demanded legal proceedings be initiated against the accused officials, including Das and Aggarwal, holding them accountable for abetment to suicide.

Ola’s statement

In a statement, Ola expressed condolences over Arvind’s death, adding that it has challenged the FIR in the Karnataka High Court. “We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of our colleague, Aravind, and our thoughts remain with his family during this difficult time. Aravind had been associated with Ola Electric for over three and a half years and was based at our headquarters in Bangalore. 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.”