Mumbai cab driver held for Rs 18,000 scam with US woman for airport ride

Mumbai Police on Friday arrested a taxi driver for allegedly cheating an American woman by charging her Rs 18000 for a taxi ride of just 400 metres near the Mumbai International AirportThe case came to light after the victim shared her ordeal on social media prompting swift action by the Sahar PoliceAccording to police officials the accused has been identified as 50yearold Deshraj Yadav a permit taxi driver residing in Sahar VillageThe incident occurred on January 12 shortly after the victim Argentina Ariano arrived in Mumbai from the United States for workTaxi driver accused of scamming woman near Mumbai Airport video goes viralPolice said that Ariano hired a taxi from the airport to travel to a fivestar hotel located close to the airport Instead of taking her directly to the hotel the accused allegedly drove her around the Andheri East area for nearly 20 minutes creating the impression of a long journey He later dropped her at a hotel in the same locality and demanded an exorbitant fare of Rs 18000 for the ride which was actually less than half a kilometre in distanceThe matter came to public attention on January 26 when Ariano shared a video describing her experience on social media platform X In her post she alleged that she was scammed shortly after landing in Mumbai and also shared the registration number of the taxi The post went viral the same day receiving more than 100000 views and drawing widespread outrageArgentina Ariano ArgentinaAriano said on X Landed in Mumbai recently and took a taxi to HiltonHotels The driver and another guy took us to an unknown location first charged us USD 200 Rs 18000 and then dropped us at the hotel which was only 400m away Taxi No MH 01 BD 5405 taxidriver mumbai RepublicDay2026 indiaMumbai Police arrested taxi driver after Airport video goes viralBased on the viral post the Sahar Police initiated an investigation As the police were unable to establish immediate contact with the victim they registered a First Information Report FIR suo motu on January 27 and later updated it on January 28 The case was registered under Sections 3184 cheating and 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNSUsing the taxi registration number mentioned in the social media post the police traced the accused to Sahar Village The vehicle involved a white Toyota Etios was seized as part of the investigation The Sahar Police arrested Yadav within three hours of registering the case He has since been produced before a court and remanded to judicial custodyPolice officials also revealed that two individuals were involved in the crime While Yadav has been arrested his associate identified as Taufiq Shaikh is currently absconding A search operation has been launched to trace and apprehend the second accusedSenior police officials stated that the case highlights the importance of social media in bringing such incidents to light and reiterated that strict action would be taken against anyone found cheating or exploiting tourists Further investigation is underway to determine whether the accused were involved in similar incidents in the pastEarlier Airport taxi auto overcharging cases led to arrests in MumbaiOn December 24 2024 Australian NRI businessman D Vijay 49 fell victim to a taxi driver for overcharging Rs 2800 for a 10minute journey from the Mumbai International Airport to a Vile Parle hotel Following an email complaint from Vijay after he reached Nagpur Sahar police arrested the cab driver Vinod Goswami 32On December 14 2024 Sahar police arrested an autorickshaw driver Ritesh Kadam 26 for taking Rs 3500 from a 19yearold USbased chemical engineering student Vishwajeet Patil from Sangli when the fare to Chembur showed Rs 106 on his meter Police said the student had returned on a college holiday from the US and was travelling to Dadar railway station after landing at Mumbai AirportWith inputs from IANS