Gurgaon police planning crackdown on cab drivers

New Delhi -- A day after Gurgaon police nabbed a gang of serial killers operating on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, a major crackdown against illegal drivers and those of various BPOs plying in the satellite town near the national capital started Friday.

"We have decided that not a single illegal cab will be allowed to pick up people on the roads. These cabs will be fined for plying on the road and in case the drivers do not possess the required documents, the cab would be seized," Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi told IANS.

"Police teams patrolling on the roads will also seize the licenses if the drivers fail to provide the documents," said Qureshi, adding the crackdown started Friday evening.

"We have increased patrolling and pickets on the roads to curb illegal cabs."

He said the crackdown was also important because one of the seven accused, Mukesh, was earlier working as a driver for a BPO company.

"Identity proofs of call centre drivers, including photographs and finger prints will be taken."

He said a number of call centres had already started the identification process on their own.

The activities of the gang came to light after their leader Pramod was arrested along with his four accomplices Tuesday. Two members of the gang were also nabbed Wednesday taking the total number of arrests to seven.

"They offer a lift to a person and would strangle him in the vehicle and loot his belongings. The gang later dumps the bodies in drains," Qureshi said.

The gang had murdered 27 people in the past 10 months.

"This is the official count but we suspect the number of murders could be more," the official said.

Apart from Pramod, others arrested are Rohtas, Lalit, Mukesh, Ravi, Vikram and Harkesh.

"We have found Rs.60,000 from them but the amount they have looted is expected to be much higher," said Qureshi.