Punjab: Taxi snatched at gunpoint, driver thrown on roadside

Four armed men allegedly snatched a taxi at gunpoint and threw the driver on roadside near Hadiabad on Phagwara-Satnampura road here, police said.

The accused later escaped towards Jalandhar in the snatched taxi.

The four men had hired the taxi from Chandigarh for Kharar early Sunday morning, taxi driver Jaspreet Singh told the police, adding that he worked for a car rental company.

''When we reached Kharar, they told me to drive ahead for about 500 metres and drop them at their residence,'' he said.

''When I drove ahead of Kharar, one of them placed a pistol at my head while another caught hold of my throat,'' he further claimed.

The driver said he was dragged to the back seat and one of the robbers began driving the taxi himself.

''They drove through a zigzag route and also got fuel of Rs 900 using my Paytm, snatched my two mobiles and a purse containing Rs 3,000-4,000,'' he said in his police complaint. Satnampura Station House Officer(SHO) Harjit Singh, said that since the taxi was snatched near Kharar and the driver was pushed down from it here, a 'Zero FIR' has been registered and sent to City Kharar police station for necessary action.

A zero FIR can be filed in any police station, regardless of whether the offence was committed under the jurisdiction of that particular police station.