Melbourne, Jan 17(ANI): An Indian taxi driver, who is in his mid 20s, was bashed by two passengers outside Geelong, Melbourne, on Sunday.

According to reports, the driver had stopped his car in a service lane off Melbourne Road at around 12 a.m. after five passengers refused to pre-pay their fare.

An eyewitness to the incident said two of the men dragged the driver out of his cab and began hitting and kicking him in the middle of the road.

“He asked them for some money and they got angry and attacked him,” The Herald Sun quoted a witness, as saying. “They pulled him out of his cab and were trying to bash him in the middle of the road. The ones attacking him looked like wild young dudes,” the witness added.

Three other passengers from the taxi, two men and a woman, joined a number of people to help the driver.

“One (of the attackers) got held to the ground and the other one ran off. The police came and got one dude and the other dude came back and gave himself up,” the witness said.”It could have been a lot worse if people hadn’t stopped. The dudes who attacked him were all white, it makes us look bad,” the witness added.

Meanwhile, police said two men have been apprehended for the assault, which was not race-related they added.”We are waiting until they are in a fit state to be interviewed, they’ve got a few too many under their belt,” said Sen-Sgt Adrian Benne from Geelong Police.”It is over the cash, they’re drunk and got angry, this could have happened to any taxi driver,” he added. (ANI)