Cab driver of Indian origin arrested on charges of rape in US

An Indian cab driver here has been arrested on charges that he raped and robbed a 26-year-old passenger in his taxi last year.

Gurmeet Singh, 40, had allegedly held his victim at knifepoint and bound her wrists. He faces charges of rape, assault and robbery among others.

The woman had told the police that she fell asleep after she got into Singh's cab on her way back to her home one night in May last year.

When she woke up Singh allegedly held her at knifepoint and raped her, The New York Post reported.

Singh, who is a Sikh, also stole her cellphone and some cash before letting her go in the morning.

Police officers had posed as city taxi commission inspectors to get evidence that Singh was the cab driver they were looking for.

They matched his DNA, obtained through a glass of water they had offered to him, with evidence uncovered in the police investigation of the sex assault.

Singh has been driving a cab since 1999 and his license was suspended in 2007 for violating motor vehicles rules.