FIR registered against Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal after employee commits suicide

BENGALURU: An FIR has been filed against Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal, the company and an engineer in connection with the suicide of an employee.

The victim Aravind K, a 38-year-old employee of Ola’s homologation division, consumed poison at his apartment in Manjunath Nagar, Chikkalsandra, and died.

Two days after his death, Rs 17.46 lakh was credited to his account, raising suspicions. A 28-page suicide note was found in his room, detailing the company’s harassment and non-payment of salary.

Based on the suicide note, Aravind’s brother Ashwin filed a complaint with the Subramanyapura police station and an FIR has been registered.

The case has been filed against the accused, including Subrat Kumar Das (A1), Bhavish Agarwal (A2), and Ola Electric Company (A3), for abetting suicide.

The complaint alleges that Aravind had been working as a homologation engineer at Ola Electric Company since 2022 and was subjected to work pressure and harassment by the company, leading to his death.

Two days after Arvind’s death on September 30, Ola Company deposited Rs 17,46,313 in his brother’s account through NEFT. When they questioned the company staff about the suspicious deposit of money, they were not given any proper answer.

Later, the company representatives Kritesh Desai, Paramesh, and Roshan came to his house and gave vague information about the financial transactions, which seemed like an attempt to hide the company’s mistakes, which made the family suspicious, the complaint said.

The complaint also mentions that the company representatives, Kritesh Desai Paramesh, and Roshan, visited the family and provided unclear information about the financial transactions, attempting to cover up the company’s mistakes. The family has demandef action against those responsible for Aravind’s death.

In the death note, Arvind said the company’s Head of Homologation Engineer Sambrat Kumar Das and the company owner Bhavish Agarwal were pressuring him at work. He also mentioned that he was tired of being harassed by them, non-payment of salary and other allowances due to which he committed suicide by consuming poison. “Therefore, I am complaining that action should be taken against those responsible for the suicide of my brother”, Ashwin said.