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Taxi drivers in the grip of fear

DUBAI — Taxi drivers in the emirate are in the grip of fear following the attack on a fellow driver from Dubai on October 2, and avoiding to ply their vehicles in night shifts.

An Indian taxi driver Abdullah Saeed was allegedly attacked by three Arab assailants posing as passengers in an incident that took place in the Industrial Area of Sharjah on early Monday morning.

Fellow drivers are also demanding that it be made compulsory to store all kinds of hand luggage in the boot of the car for safety reasons.

Says a driver on condition of anonymity, "The unprovoked attack has scared us all, and we are afraid to carry out our night shifts. We have asked the authorities to either provide security cameras or suspend taxi service at night until safety to drivers is assured."

In May of this year, a Metro Taxi driver, Abdullah Umar Khan, was also murdered in similar circumstances in an isolated area between Al Quoz and Al Barsha. Police discovered his mutilated body lying in a pool of blood after an anonymous tip off.

Khan was the seventh taxi driver to be killed in the UAE during the past three years. Last year, two Sharjah National taxi drivers were murdered by robbers. And in 2003, four Pakistani drivers were killed by an Afghan national. No motive for the murders has been established to date.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, the wounded driver Saeed said that he was afraid to work at night since the attack. "I nearly died, now I don't know if I will be able to work freely at night without cross checking to see what kind of passenger is hiring me " he said.