London, May 25: A youth of 20 was questioned by police today after the “heinous and cowardly” killing of Gian Chand Bajar, a 71-year-old Sikh taxi driver who was assaulted and run over with his own cab.

The murder took place at 10.10 pm on Wednesday in Kent, which is generally called “the garden of England”.

But Asian taxi drivers, even in rural England, often risk being beaten up by passengers, frequently drunk, whom they pick up, in incidents with nasty racist overtones. The taxi drivers say their complaints about assaults are not always taken seriously by the police — a recurring theme wherever there are Indian or Pakistani taxi drivers.

To some of their passengers, all are “Pakis”, targets for unprovoked abuse or worse.

It is also a harsh fact of life that some of the older generation, who came to work in factories, had no other qualification when the manufacturing industry declined in Britain, forcing them to become cabbies. They have to put up with assaults as part of the job.

Bajar, a father of five who has been described as a “pillar of the community”, was semi-retired and worked only a few nights a week for Millennium Data Cabs in Gravesend.

His son, Telu Bajar, 35, said: “Dad was an honest, hardworking member of the local community in Gravesham. He sadly had his retirement cut short, which deprived his family of a loving, caring father and grandfather.”

Over the years, Bajar had also worked to promote race and community relations.

Nirmal Thandi, co-owner of Millennium Data Cabs, said: “You could not have met a nicer man. He was very family-oriented and did a lot of work for the community. He was helping build a Sikh temple. It is just unbelievable that something like this could have happened to him. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Kent police say Bajar picked up a passenger at 9.43 pm in Armoury Drive, Gravesend, and dropped him off at 9.57 pm in Tooley Street, also in Gravesend. He is believed to have been flagged down a couple of minutes later in the Springhead Road area, where he picked up a fare, and was heading to the Westcourt area of Gravesend.

Witnesses report seeing Bajar being physically attacked and run over in St Benedict’s Avenue at 10.10 pm. His silver Skoda Octavia, registration GK02 YKA, was later found burnt in an alley adjacent to Dorchester Avenue and Lamorna Avenue.

Bajar, described by the police as an “upstanding member of the community”, was taken to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, where he died from his injuries.

Bajar emigrated to England in 1971 from Punjab where, as a civil servant, he was responsible for land allocation. He worked as a builder and later on the channel tunnel rail link.

His death has sparked anger among local cab drivers about alleged police inaction.

Taxi drivers will be balloted on industrial action with a view to striking next weekend.

Bruce Parmenter, 43, who has been a taxi driver for 11 years, disclosed there have been two attacks on drivers in St Benedict’s Avenue alone in the past 18 months.

He said: “My opinion is that this was a tragic incident that was bound to happen because police are not tackling crime. I speak from experience, having been attacked myself two-and-a-half years ago, and I waited three days for a police response, in which time the crime scene was destroyed.”

He added: “I’m sorry to say that this murder was not unexpected. There have been lots of attacks on drivers, yet when you phone the police they say they are too busy. There is shock, anger and disbelief among taxi drivers around here today.”

He was supported by fellow taxi driver Neil Batcheldor, 45, who commented: “We been waiting for this. We’ve had so many attacks in the last few years. We’ve been speaking to police, Gravesham Borough Council and Cab Watch, and we told them it was a case of when, where and who. It had to happen.”

Speaking at a media conference in Gravesend, Kent police chief superintendent Gary Beautridge, area commander of North Kent, said there were “full and frank exchanges” at an emergency meeting with angry taxi drivers at Gravesend’s Sikh temple today.

He said: “It’s my intention to deal with representatives of the taxi industry so we can move forward in partnership.”

The suspect is being held at Gravesend police station.

Black ribbons will be flown from taxis in the Gravesend area as a mark of respect for the murdered man.