Calcutta, April 21 :    Calcutta, April 21:  Almost 15,000 taxis of the 30,000 in the city and the suburbs, went on a wildcat strike to protest the killing of Ramsundar Yadav, 32, a taxi-driver of Narkeldanga. Yadav was abducted on his way home on April 18. His body was found in Dhanbad the next day, with multiple stab injuries and three gun-shot wounds in the head. His body was brought to his residence on Saturday. As soon as Yadav's body reached home, some taxi-drivers decided to withdraw their cabs to mourn his death. They placed Yadav's body in a van and drove it around the city, announcing all the while that the Progressive Taxi-men's Union has called a strike. Some of them went on a rampage, throwing stones at passing vehicles and blocking roads in areas such as Bhowanipore and Gariahat. Almost 14 vehicles were damaged in different parts of the city on Saturday. The taxi-drivers staged a demonstration at Ganjapark in Bhowanipore. However, Madan Mitra, president of Progressive Taxi-men's Union and general secretary of the Trinamul, was not in support of a strike. He claimed that about 1,500 taxi-drivers came to his office on Saturday morning, declared that they wanted to mourn Yadav's death and coerced him into declaring a strike. Mitra said he told the agitated taxi-drivers that a strike would not solve any problem. Instead, he asked them to put black flags on their cabs. The taxi-drivers, however, did not heed his suggestion. Rumours of taxis being damaged began to spread fast and most cabbies refused to take passengers to south Calcutta. They were more interested in going to Salt Lake. A taxi-driver was beaten up by some angry passengers at Gariahat when he refused to take a patient to a nursing home in Bhowanipore. 'Three taxi-drivers have been abducted in the last six months. We have only been able to recover the body of Ramsundar Yadav,' said Banibrata Basu, deputy commissioner of police, detective department. According to the detective department, criminals abducted most missing taxi-drivers. 'Taxis have lately become a soft target for criminals because more of them are available now. Most criminals target the yellow taxis because they have the permission to go anywhere in the state,' the source said. Most abducted taxi-drivers are later killed because they become a witness to the crime. About a week ago, another taxi-driver, Surinder Das, 25, was kidnapped and killed in a similar fashion. 'The vehicle used by a criminal is generally the first lead for us. A taxi is always a safe option. These criminals generally change the number plate or abandon the vehicle after a day or two. We are still clueless about how we should tackle these cases,' the source added. 'About 150 taxi drivers have been killed in the last three years. If the administration does not provide compensation or arrange for the security of taxi-drivers in the city within 72 hours, we will have to take some drastic steps,' Mitra added.