During a shocking confrontation that was caught on camera, tourist Dustin was threatened by a taxi driver who warned him, “I have mafia connections, I will break your bones”
This is the chilling moment a taxi driver threatened to “break” a YouTuber’s bones following a fare dispute. Dustin, from the US, had just arrived in Kolkata, India, to explore the city when he was threatened and scammed by a taxi driver.
During the shocking nine-minute video, Dustin had agreed on a set fee with the driver and asked him to take him to the Hotel Great Western in Park Street. However, on arrival, it emerged he had been driven nearly ten miles away in the opposite direction towards a different hotel named The Western in Rajarhat.
In the viral clip, Dustin tells the drive: “I showed you the hotel first, we agreed to this, and then you took me to the wrong hotel.”
Dustin had agreed to a £6 taxi fee with the driver but, after being taken to the wrong destination, he refused to pay the total.
The driver bizarrely acknowledged he had taken him to the wrong hotel, but upped the price. “Okay, sir, it will be Rs 900 (£10) to Park Street now.”
The incident took a frightening turn after another driver in a red shirt joined the taxi and sat next to the driver, appearing to try and solve the dispute.
However, he made things worse and threatened Dustin. “I will take him to a lonely place and I will break his bones. I have mafia connection, I will break your bone.”
The pair arranged to get another taxi for Dustin but insisted he paid an additional fee for “parking and petrol” – despite being driven to the wrong hotel.
The journey, which should have taken 50 minutes, was extended to 1 hour and 20 minutes.
“I should’ve been at the hotel by now, but I’ll probably be in this taxi for another 30 minutes”, he told his channel.
Despite the threatening taxi driver, Dustin was determined that it would not spoil his view of India. “I’ve had a great time in India so far.
“This won’t make me hate the country, it’s just something you deal with in taxis and airports in many places”, he added.
It comes after a British tourist who was walking with his wife has been killed after a driver in a rental car lost control and pinned the couple against a wall. Harish Solanki, 86, was struck while holidaying in the town of Candolim in Goa, India, along with his 81-year-old wife Chandrakanta. The pair were both rushed to hospital with critical injuries.
Mr Solanki was later pronounced dead and his wife remains in hospital. The pair had just left their hotel compound shortly after 10am last Friday and were walking along the main road when the car veered towards them and crushed them with the force of the vehicle. Police say the car was a rental and was being driven at speed when the driver lost control of the car.