A RACIST and brutal attack on Australia Day has left a Bunbury taxi driver shaken but he has vowed to return to work as soon as his injuries heal.
At 7.55pm on Monday night, a group of five passengers were being driven by a Bunbury Taxis cab to Withers when an argument broke out with the driver.
Taxi driver Verinder Wadhwa said the group of passengers began racially abusing him after he refused to take them to an unlit area.
“They said ‘you are Indian, why do you come to our country?’, so I pulled over and told them to get out of my car,” Mr Wadhwa said.
South West Detectives acting officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Dom Blackshaw said Mr Wadhwa stopped the taxi on Spencer Street in South Bunbury.
After the group refused to leave one of the passengers hit Mr Wadhwa in the face with a frozen soft drink bottle.
“One man began to try and hit me and then I felt the bottle slam into my face,” he said.
“I began to call the police but then they smashed my mobile phone and ran away with it.”
The impact broke Mr Wadhwa’s nose and he had to go to Bunbury Regional Hospital for treatment.
The assault comes after local police warned the community to behave across the Australia Day long weekend as they cracked down on disorderly behaviour.
But Senior Sergeant Blackshaw said it was an isolated incident and police hoped the public would help them catch those involved.
“We won’t tolerate any assault against people performing a public service,” he said.
In 2013, two Bunbury men were sentenced to more than three years jail after they assaulted a 61-year-old taxi driver.
Taxi Council of WA chief executive Joanna Lockyer said further steps needed to be taken to prevent attacks on drivers.
“The implementation of cameras in every taxi across the state would be the first stepping stone,” she said.
Mr Wadhwa said although it was a shocking experience he plans to be back at work within the fortnight.
“It was very scary, but these things happen,” he said.
Police are searching for a group of five people – three dark-skinned females, one dark-skinned male and one caucasian male.
Anyone with information about the assault is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
