Auto driver thrashes 20-year-old over minimum fare

A 20-year-old call centre employee was allegedly beaten up on Saturday morning by an auto-rickshaw driver in Andheri (east), due to a tiff that erupted between them over  minimum fare. The driver refused to ply him the distance, and told him to get down around 50m away. According to the police, the victim, Simaab Vasi, resident of Mira Road, on Saturday morning was going to meet his friend, Amjad Shaikh, a Vashi resident, who in turn was about to go London to pursue a course on hotel management.

“Driver stopped the auto mid-way and told me to get down as he would not go to the international airport. While I was getting down he immediately held me and told me that I have to cough up the minimum fare before I proceed” said Simaab Vasi. “I refused to pay him with the result he held me by my collar and began abusing me. I pushed him away but he started badly hitting me. I retorted as well but the passers-by dispelled the fight. He then ran towards his auto and removed a wooden stick that he had kept in the auto. He continuously hit six to seven times with the wooden stick on my head and I was left bleeding profusely,” said the 20-year old employee.

“We have written a letter to the RTO office to find out the details about the auto driver. We will catch him soon and will take action against him” said senior police inspector, Shivajirav Deshmukh, belonging to the Andheri police station.