Foreign national stabs cab driver in Gurugram, arrested

A woman, believed to be an Egyptian national, allegedly stabbed a taxi driver in Rajiv Chowk on Tuesday morning, before being chased and nabbed by a police patrol team and the public.

Police said the driver, Raghu Raj (37), sustained a stab wound to the right shoulder, as well as injuries to his face and was taken to Civil Hospital in Sector 10 for treatment.

Raj said he was waiting in his car for passengers around 11am when a burkha-clad woman walked up to his window, stabbed him in the shoulder with a long knife, and fled.

He said he got out of the car and raised the alarm while chasing the woman. “She stopped and turned around to charge at me again. I picked up a stone to throw at her in self-defence, but still backed away in fear,” said Raj, adding that the woman threw away the knife when she fled.

Raj said he tried calling 112 and 100 after being stabbed, but could not get through to the police.

Noticing the commotion, locals and a police team on patrol chased the woman. Police said the woman appeared to be agitated and spoke in a foreign tongue. She also assaulted a policewoman who tried to detain her.

“When the police team finally detained her, we managed to make out that she was demanding to meet the Egyptian ambassador. We are making efforts to gather her personal details,” said an officer privy to the investigation.

He also said they are still trying to ascertain the motive behind the attack.

The officer said the woman was agitated even after being brought to the police station. “She also scratched a policewoman at the station when we tried to calm her,” he said.

Kala Ramachandran, who took over as the commissioner of police on Tuesday, said the police have contacted the Egyptian embassy. “The embassy will send its officials to Gurugram to verify her identity. Once the authorities arrive, we will know why she attacked the cab driver,” she added.

Police said the woman was arrested later in the day after an FIR was registered against her at Civil Lines police station under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the basis of the driver’s complaint.

A senior police officer said relevant sections of The Foreigners Act might also be invoked in the FIR if she fails to produce valid documents, including her passport and visa.

“We are in touch with officials from the Egyptian embassy. The woman’s name and identity are yet to be established. She has not been able to produce any valid documents yet,” he said on Tuesday evening.

He said if the doctors treating Raj ascertain that his injuries are life-threatening, then sterner sections of the IPC could be invoked in the FIR. “The injured driver’s condition was stable when he was admitted to Civil Hospital, though,” the officer said.