Mumbai: Mumbai Police on Friday arrested a taxi driver for allegedly cheating an American woman by charging her Rs 18,000 for a taxi ride of just 400 metres near the Mumbai International Airport. The case came to light after the victim shared her ordeal on social media, prompting swift action by the Sahar Police.
According to police officials, the accused has been identified as 50-year-old Deshraj Yadav, a permit taxi driver residing in Sahar Village. The incident occurred on January 12, shortly after the victim, Argentina Ariano, arrived in Mumbai from the United States for work.
Police said that Ariano hired a taxi from the airport to travel to a five-star 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 18,000 for the ride, which was actually less than half a kilometre in distance.
The 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 1,00,000 views and drawing widespread outrage.
Argentina 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 $200 (₹18,000), and then dropped us at the hotel which was only 400m away. Taxi No: MH 01 BD 5405 #taxidriver #mumbai #RepublicDay2026 #india.”
Based 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 318(4) (cheating) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Using 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 custody.
Police 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 accused.
Senior 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 past.
On December 24, 2024, Australian NRI businessman D Vijay (49) fell victim to a taxi driver for overcharging Rs 2,800 for a 10-minute 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 (32).
On December 14, 2024, Sahar police arrested an auto-rickshaw driver, Ritesh Kadam (26), for taking Rs 3,500 from a 19-year-old US-based 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 Airport.
(IANS)
