A foreign national employed as a pilot with IndiGo airlines was allegedly held hostage for two hours in a private cab and robbed of over ₹1 lakh by three men before being dumped in Delhi Cantt. area, the police said on Monday.

Sixty-year-old Mohammad Mehdi Ghazanfani, an Indian origin Canadian who works as a domestic airline pilot and lives in Gurugram, told the police that he was waiting outside Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 1 for his office cab late on Friday, but his ride was late. He decided to walk towards the main road, near gate number 2 of the metro station, in search of the cab.

DCP (IGI) Sanjay Bhatia said that as the victim was searching for his ride, a private taxi approached him and offered to drop him off at IndiGo’s parking area.

The driver asked for ₹100, which the victim accepted. When he sat down in the taxi, he found that there were three other passengers already in the cab.

“As soon as he was in the car, the four men, including the taxi driver, forced Mr. Ghazanfani to hand over his wallet and other valuables. They also asked him for the PIN number of his debit cards. They stopped the taxi at an ATM and withdrew ₹1 lakh in ten instalments. Later, they released the victim at Mahipalpur flyover and fled,” said Mr. Bhatia.

Taxi identified

With the help of a passer-by, the victim approached the Domestic Airport police and lodged his complaint. Mr. Bhatia said that the taxi has been identified based on the details provided by the victim. The accused will be arrested soon, he added.

“On the complaint of the victim, we have registered an FIR under IPC Sections 386 (Extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention),” said Mr. Bhatia.