Cabbie, 1 other held for fleecing student

THE DRIVER CLAIMED THAT THE IIT-B STUDENT HAD GIVEN HIM R100 EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD PAID HIM R500

MUMBAI: A taxi driver and his accomplice were arrested for fleecing an Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), student.
The driver, Harcharan Singh, 53, allegedly claimed that Reshma Patil, 24, had given him Rs100 note, whereas she had paid him Rs500.
According to the Matunga police, Patil had returned to the city after attending a conference in Uttar Pradesh on October 8. She hailed a taxi from Dadar station and decided on an amount of Rs250 for her journey to Powai.
Midway, another person got in the taxi, who the driver said was his friend, the police said. Before she reached her destination, the driver asked Patil to pay him the money. She gave him Rs500, but the driver insisted that she had paid him only Rs100.

“Singh even showed her a Rs100 note claiming that it was the one he had received from her. Patil got a confused and gave him another Rs500,” said an officer from Matunga police station.
“It was only after she reached the IIT campus that she realised that both Rs500 notes in her purse were missing. She filed a police complaint the next day,” he added.
Based on the description given by her, the police arrested Singh and his friend Mohammed Mulla, 42, last week.
The police suspect the accused take advantage of the fact that most passengers are tired from their journey.
Dattatray Karale, deputy commissioner of police, zone 4 said, “There could be severa such incidents taking place, but not many bother to register complaints as the amount involved is not very big. People should be more vigilant and approach the police.”