Published on: Aug 10, 2025 04:56 am IST
From the airport to JW Marriott at Andheri East, which is about 400m away, the drivers charged in thousands
MUMBAI: Two cab drivers, in separate incidents this month, allegedly extorted exorbitant charges from foreign nationals for their journeys from the airport to their destinations within the city. The Sahar police arrested them both on Friday.
On July 25, 39-year-old Uber driver Arun Mishra picked up Frank Coffman, an American citizen from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai. Before Mishra could drop his passenger at his drop location in JW Marriott in Andheri East, he allegedly abruptly stopped the ride mid-way, said a police officer. He snatched Coffman’s phone to cancel the ride and forcefully took ₹1,300 from him before fleeing. “We registered the case on Friday as the complaint was filed late with us,” said the officer. Mishra was booked under Section 308 (extortion) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and arrested from his house in Saki Naka.
In the second case, an Australian citizen, Eyan Austan, hailed a cab from the airport on August 3 to the JW Marriott hotel. The taxi driver, 39-year-old Sunil Sharma, charged him ₹3,500 for the drop. However, at the end of the journey, he demanded $3,500 from his Austan.
Both passengers had complained to the hotel’s management, who filed a complaint with the Sahar police on their behalf. Sharma was also booked for extortion and arrested on Friday.