
Photo for representation. File photo
Mohali, September 17
The badly mutilated body of a 31-year-old taxi driver was found after the car was removed from a canal near Kheri Gandian village, Rajpura, last night. The deceased, Satbir Singh, a resident of Kandala village, Mohali, had mysteriously gone missing from near the SBSI Airport on September 12 afternoon.
The car was removed from the canal with the help of divers and a crane.
Eyewitnesses apprehended murder as deep stab wounds were found near the neck, face and chest of the driver. One of the legs of the taxi driver was found tied.
The deceased is survived by his wife and five year-old-son. His father, Surinder Singh, said Satbir, who operated taxi at the airport, had left the house around 11:30 am on September 12 and his last mobile tower location was found near the airport chowk. After that both his mobile phones were switched off around 4 pm.
It is a clear case of murder. He had no enmity with anyone. The family had been searching for him since September 13 and a DDR was registered on September 14, he said. This is the third instance of a cabbie being murdered with sharp weapons in the past five months in Mohali and nearby areas.
Past incidents of cabby murder
July 31: A cab driver, Dharam Pal, 35, a resident of Zirakpur, was stabbed to death near Palm Residency, Mullanpur barrier, around 9 pm. The cab, with a Mohali registration plate, had picked up the passengers from Sector 43 to Mullanpur. Passers-by said the victim, a native of Rajasthan, was stabbed in the throat and left in a secluded area. The police arrested Raju (30), a resident of Mansa, from his hometown on August 6
May 17: The police nabbed two youths for snatching a cab from a Phase 7 driver and then murdering him on May 2. The victim, Dayanand Sharma, alias Sonu, a native of Una, was contacted for booking through “inDrive” app, and went missing on May 2 night. A missing person report was filed and a search was launched. Bathinda native Resham Singh and Mansa native Punjabdeep Singh were booked under Sections 302, 346 and 24 of the IPC at the Mataur police station.