Police release picture in cabbie stabbing inquiry
CCTV images have been released of a man police want to trace after a taxi driver was stabbed nine times as he sat in his car.
The driver, who has been named by his employers as Hossain Mohammed Alauddin, is understood to have picked up his attacker from a Longsight takeaway on Dickenson Road on Saturday night.
When the taxi pulled up outside an address on Ruskin Avenue in Moss Side the customer began to stab the driver from the back seat.
He then got out of the vehicle and fled the scene, leaving the driver with serious injuries.
Mr Alauddin, 42, was reportedly found collapsed and bleeding on the street.
He was taken to hospital, where he remained with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Greater Manchester Police have launched an investigation and have released several CCTV images of a man they wish to speak to in connection to the attack.
Mr Alauddin’s employers, Street Cars, described him as a ‘family man’ and said he has worked for the company for nearly three years.
Aqeel Arshad, operations director, said: “He is lucky to be alive – to have been stabbed nine times and still be alive. His seatbelt saved him – the man was going for his throat but the belt was in the way. There was a lot of blood lost, all of his injuries are above his neck. He is a family man – he has three children, a wife and brothers who were all in the hospital. It is a hard situation to be in. Luckily he is all right. He is a really nice driver, he is a nice chap.”
Humara Arshad, the firm’s accounts director, added: “It has shaken up all of the taxi drivers.”
The suspect is described as a slim, white man, aged in his mid-20s with dark hair. At the time he was wearing a black coat with a black hoodie underneath with the hood up.
Det Insp Geoff Machent, of GMP’s City of Manchester team, said: “Our thoughts remain with the taxi driver as he recovers in hospital.
“We are continuing to follow extensive lines of enquiry and are particularly keen to speak to the man pictured in connection with this attack. If you saw the man pictured in the area around the time of the offence, or have any information about him, then please get in touch.”
Anybody with information can contact police on 101, quoting incident number 2017 of 11/11/17.