A case of charging huge amount from a foreign woman for a distance of a few hundred meters has come to light near Mumbai International Airport. Sahar police has arrested a taxi driver Deshraj Yadav (50). He is accused of defrauding an American citizen of ₹18,000 or about ₹200. The incident took place on January 12, when the victim woman had come to Mumbai from the US.
According to police, the woman had taken a taxi to a five-star hotel near the airport, which was just 400 meters away. Instead of taking her straight to the hotel, Yadav took her around Andheri (East) for about 20 minutes. He then brought her back to the same area, dropped her at the hotel and collected ₹18,000 from her. Another man was also present with the woman during the incident, whose role is being investigated.
foreign woman victim
The matter came to light on January 26 when the victim shared her ordeal on social media platform The woman said in her post that the taxi driver and his partner first took her to an unknown place, took money and then dropped her at a hotel very near the airport. The woman’s post received a huge response on social media, getting more than 100,000 views, following which the police took action.
Sahar police took note of the matter and registered an FIR on January 27. The accused driver was identified on the basis of the registration number of the taxi shared on social media. Senior Police Inspector Manoj Chalke and his team started the investigation under the guidance of DCP (Zone VIII) Manish Kalwania. The police also collected information from the hotel where the victim was staying. Investigation revealed that the woman had checked in on January 12, checked out the next day and returned to the US via Pune.
Driver accused of fraud arrested
Police said that accused Deshraj Yadav was arrested within three hours of the FIR being registered. His taxi has been seized, and the search is on for the second person involved in the fraud. Police also said that Yadav’s details will be sent to the RTO to cancel his license. The accused is currently in police custody and a case has been registered against him under fraud charges and further investigation is underway.
DCP appealed to the public
DCP Manish Kalwania said that on January 12, a foreign woman came to Mumbai airport and booked a taxi to her hotel. The driver took him for a ride and dropped him at the hotel, taking ₹18,000 from him. The woman posted her complaint on Twitter, after which Mumbai Police registered its own FIR and after investigation arrested the accused named Devraj Yadav.
