A man who mistakenly left behind his iPhone in an Ola cab on Gurusaday Dutta Road was allegedly beaten up when he went to collect the phone from a driver of the vehicle in Howrah on Sunday night.

The assaulters, according to a police complaint, also allegedly snatched a second iPhone and a gold chain from Andre Dragwidge, 33.

The assault left the Beckbagan resident with at least two deep gashes on his head, which needed seven stitches.

Based on Dragwidge's complaint, the police arrested the driver, Radhey Shyam Yadav, after tracking him down through his cell phone tower location, and the owner of the car, Chandan Rai.

Yadav, 25, and Rai, 24, have been booked on the charges of theft, causing grievous hurt, wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation and common intention.

Yadav has been remanded in police custody for three days while Rai has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Police said one of the two phones had been recovered from Yadav.

Dragwidge, who works in Mumbai and had come home for a few days, had boarded the cab on Lenin Sarani around 5pm on Sunday. He got off on Gurusaday Dutta Road and realised a short while later that he had left his 5S - one of his two iPhones - in the cab. He called the driver but was refused cooperation.

Dragwidge had offered to pay the driver if he brought the phone back but he allegedly refused, saying he needed the vehicle owner's permission.

"I was supposed to return to Mumbai on Monday so I was desperately trying to get my phone back the same night. Five hours after I had lost my phone I finally managed to convince the driver to meet me but he said his shift was ending and he was handing the phone to a new driver. He gave me the number of the new driver, who asked me to meet him near the Howrah jail," Dragwidge told Metro.

By the time Dragwidge and his cousin Stanford Hilt reached the spot near Mullick Phatak, it was midnight. The driver and the cab's owner were waiting for the duo.

"Instead of returning the phone, the two started abusing us. When we protested, they picked up a bamboo stick and started beating me up. This time they snatched my iPhone 6 and gold chain and left me bleeding in the middle of the road," he recalled.

Dragwidge and Hilt went to Howrah District Hospital for treatment. Later, Dragwidge went to Howrah police station and lodged a complaint.