Mumbai: The Sahar police have launched a stringent crackdown on cab and auto rickshaw drivers accused of extorting and cheating passengers arriving at the international airport, registering multiple FIRs under extortion charges to curb the menace.
Over the last two months, Sahar police have registered 80 FIRs, including 13 against cab and rickshaw drivers, with two under extortion charges. Thirteen cabs have been seized, licenses and permits cancelled, and six arrests made so far.
The first extortion FIR was registered on February 25 after a decoy operation caught cab driver Vaibhav Bhosale (34) demanding Rs 1,700 for a ride to Colaba and threatening a woman officer posing as a tourist. Another case involved two cab drivers fleecing a US woman of $200 in January; they were arrested using an OSINT tool after her viral social media post.
According to sources, the decision to invoke Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for extortion followed instances where drivers continued to fleece passengers even after complaints. In a recent case on March 2, a rickshaw driver threatened a passenger arriving from Bhubaneshwar at 1.30 am, initially agreeing to take him to Seven Hills Hospital by meter but later demanding Rs 500 forcibly.
A security guard intervened and lodged a complaint, leading to the arrest of driver Prakash Shetty (42), seizure of his vehicle, and initiation of license cancellation proceedings. In February, two cab drivers were arrested for cheating a couple of 1,000 Thai Baht.
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