MUMBAI: Sahar police arrested cab driver Deshraj Yadav (50) for allegedly fleecing a US national of Rs 18,000 ($200) for a 400-metre drive to a five-star hotel near the Mumbai International Airport after she arrived from the USA on Jan 12.Police said Yadav took the woman on a 20-minute drive in Andheri (East) before returning to the same locality, dropped her at the hotel and collected the fare. The action was initiated and Yadav was arrested within three hours on a suo-motu first information report (FIR) registered against him on Jan 27, when the foreign national did not respond to Sahar police.The matter came to light when the woman posted details on Jan 26, after she created an account on X (formerly Twitter) the same day. Her post had over 1.15 lakh views. In the post on X, Argentina Ariano (@ArgentinaAriano) said: “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.”Despite a delay of almost two weeks after the victim posted details on X, police tracked down the accused based on the vehicle registration number the US woman had posted on X. DCP (Zone VIII) Maneesh Kalwaniya supervised Sahar police senior inspector Manoj Chalke and his team, who gathered information about the hotel where the foreign national woman stayed and learnt that she checked in on Jan 12, checked out the next day and went to Pune, from where she returned to the US. “We are trying to get the victim’s statement. She did not inform the hotel staff about the incident. We have repeatedly informed people to communicate with the hotel or the local authority if a tourist suspect that the cabbie is fleecing them,” said Chalke.Police said they were also searching for Yadav’s accomplice who was involved in the crime. Yadav is in police custody and his cab is seized. “We are going to send his details to the RTO for his licence cancellation. They have been booked for cheating,” a police officer said.In Dec 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 Dec 14, 2024, Sahar police arrested an auto-rickshaw driver, Ritesh Kadam (26), for robbing 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.Experts recommended installing clear signage outside the airport to safeguard foreign tourists from such deception, citing the lack of an adequately staffed help desk at Mumbai Airport despite its international status.IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh said making complaint should be made user friendly and telephone numbers where complaint can be made to police should be permanently displayed on the inside and outside of every cab. “Very often, it is seen that the tout is hand-in-glove with the security staff. The problem is less of system but more of enforcement. In serious cases, FIR ought to be registered for extortion and cheating. In less serious cases, the cabbie permit needs to be cancelled,” Singh said.Social activist Mohammed Afzal said the problem had been going on for the last two-three decades. He said police were supposed to keep a check that foreigners were not fleeced by taxi drivers, but it still happened, and a stringent law should be implemented to curb the menace.