Cabbies show their solidarity for murdered colleagueHUNDREDS of taxi and private hire vehicles brought Bedford to a standstill on Tuesday, in memory of a murdered colleague.
Around 400 vehicles processed from Hillgrounds, in Kempston to Ashburnham Road’s gurdwara and on to Norse Road Crematorium to show respect for Mehar Dhariwal, 61, who died following an attack while he worked as a taxi driver in January.
And this week drivers and operators claimed that they have not ruled out going on strike in the future to highlight the issues affecting their trade.
A spokesman for the group said on Tuesday: “Drivers and operators have not ruled out going on strike but today was about showing our respect to Mr Dhariwal and his family because he died while he was doing the job.
“Drivers have always understood how dangerous the job and we need the police and the council to provide assurances and measures to stop something like this happening again.”
Mr Dhariwal, a grandfather of four, died on January 29, a week after being attacked in St Peters Street where he worked for the AGS Cars firm.
James Valentine, councillor for Kempston (central and east) also attended the funeral.
He said: “I won’t forget the sight of Ashburnham Road this afternoon, full of scores of taxis as far as you could see.
“Mehar Dhariwal suffered a terrible crime.
“His colleagues gave him a great send-off but his death is a loss to the whole of our community.”
He added: “Taxi drivers suffer too many assaults and all possible steps must be taken to ensure the safety of drivers.”
source:
http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/
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