Melbourne:
In yet another incident targeting Indians in Australia, a student-cum-cabbie was threatened with knife by his two passengers, even as police insisted that these cases were not racially-motivated.
The incident, the third against Indian cabbies in two days, occurred on Saturday when the driver, who is studying business administration in the Victorian city of Ballart, was called to Birdwood Avenue to pick up passengers, 'The Age' reported on Sunday.
It came shortly after another Indian taxi driver was abused and punched by his four passengers, one of whom spat on him, in Ballart, which is 110-kms west of here. It also occurred just a day after a man was jailed for three months for abusing and threatening to kill an Indian taxi driver.
In the latest case "there were only two male offenders," Detective Senior Constable Highthorn said. "And they also were skylarking around in the taxi and they fled from the taxi without paying. As they fled they produced a small knife."
The cabbie said he feared for his life but the attack would not stop him from driving taxis.
Police believed the two incidents against drivers from Ballart are linked. They it did not identify the two drivers.
Paul John Brogden, 48-year-old local man, was arrested, jailed for three months and fined 1500 Australian dollars by a judge on Thursday, hours after he pleaded guilty of holding out a threat to kill 24-year-old Indian taxi-driver Satheesh Thatipamula.