WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from South Africa
TAXI ASSOC MEMBERS STORM CAPE TOWN POLICE STATION AND SET SUSPECTS FREE
Cape Town police is investigating an incident in which offi- cers came under attack and people suspected of crime evaded arrest. News24 reports that in the first incident on Thursday, 10 March, according to police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg, around 40 members of a taxi asso- ciation stormed into a room at the Philippi East police station and overpowered traffic officials who were process- ing the arrest of two men, for using fraudulent documents. City of Cape Town traffic officers had arrested one of the two men - the driver of a Toyota Avanza taxi - for producing false documentation on Thursday, Mayoral Committee mem- ber for safety and security JP Smith said. Smith added: “The suspect was taken to Philippi East police station. When the vehicle owner arrived at the police station, he admitted that the licence plate and disc were from one of his other vehicles and he too was arrested for allowing the driver to operate the vehicle with fraudulent documents.” While officers were busy processing their arrests, a group of about 40 taxi drivers and owners stormed into the police sta- tion and demanded that both men be set free immediately. “When the group saw that their demands will not be met, they violently grabbed the suspects in the room and in the scuffle, pushed a traffic officer against one of the tables. Fortunately, two detectives who were in the room inter- vened and prevented them from assaulting the officer,” Smith said. The group of people managed to free the men. Officers are investigating the incident and the men are yet to be arrested.
extort money from taxi drivers and when he failed to pay them, they started harassing him. The victim suffered over 80 per cent burn injuries and doctors at the hospital where he was being treated stated that his condition was critical. Superintendent of police, Sanjiv Suman, suspended the sta- tion house officer of Gaurifanta police station, Ashvani Vishkarma, over the charges. Directions have been issued to the additional superintendent of police to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report, the SP said. The victim, Shivam Gupta, used to run Tata Magic from the Bangawa area to the Gaurifanta locality. His statement has been recorded before a magistrate. According to the police, on Wednesday late evening, they were informed that Gupta had set himself on fire after pour- ing petrol on himself at the police station gate. He then ran inside the police station campus and police personnel doused the fire and rushed him to hospital. The victim’s uncle told reporters that Shivam took the step after the police had seized his vehicle and thrashed him. He also alleged that the police had threatened Shivam Gupta that his nephew would be framed in a false case. The police, meanwhile, denied that his vehicle was seized.
from Namibia
NAMIBIAN CABBIE KIDNAPPED AND STUFFED IN HIS BOOT DURING ROBBING SPREE
from India
INDIAN TAXI DRIVER SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE ALLEGING POLICE HARASSMENT
A 26-year-old private taxi driver allegedly attempted suicide by setting himself on fire inside the Gaurifanta police station campus in Lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday evening, 16 March, over “harassment” by the police and four other men. The Indian Express reports that, the victim, according to the police, alleged that the four men and the police used to
APRIL 2022
A Swakopmund taxi driver had to endure six hours of horror when he was kidnapped and stuffed in the boot of his own vehicle, allegedly by three men. According to All Africa, police state that the incident hap- pened early on a Saturday morning, when the three men allegedly stopped the taxi around midnight in front of a bar in Mondesa. Crime investigations coordinator, Erastus Iikuyu, told journalists the 30-year-old taxi driver initially thought the men were genuine customers. “However, the group started to assault him with stones as soon as they got into the taxi and tore his clothes, tied him up and blindfolded him before they forced him into the boot of his own car,” Iikuyu said. The men then allegedly drove around Mondesa and robbed several other people they found walking in the streets. “The victim heard a gunshot during the robbery spree, before the suspects abandoned the taxi around 6am,” Iikuyu explained. According to the taxi driver, he was rescued by passers-by who heard him calling for help from the boot of his vehicle. He sustained injuries on his forehead, shoulder as well as scratch marks on his stomach
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