Two arrested after an AMT taxi was found burned out in Badalona

TWO MEN have been arrested by the Mossos de Esquadra, suspected of setting fire to an AMT taxi that was found burned out in Badalona on August 10

Mossos d’Esquadra officers have identified and arrested two men suspected of being responsible for setting fire to an AMT taxi that was found burned in the Catalonian city of Badalona on August 10.

A conflict has been running for some months now between taxi drivers who decided to download the Uber and Free now applications to get more customers, and those who believe that these platforms harm the sector, and it reached its boiling point on August 10 when an Uber taxi was discovered burned and painted on a street in Badalona.

On September 15, two people were arrested at their homes by officers of the Generalitat Police, who also took a statement from a third person who is still being investigated for threats and coercion of an AMT taxi driver who offered his services through one of these online transport companies.

Those arrested are a 53-year-old, and a 32-year-old, of Spanish and Pakistani nationality, arrested in Badalona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat respectively.

After the AMT approved the use of the transport applications, there have been incidents involving taxi drivers opposed to these platforms, and the man whose taxi was burned out had in fact made a complaint to the police about being threatened and coerced when going to search for clients.

In some complaints, it has been reported that the opposing taxi drivers try to convince the customer not to get into the AMT taxi, and if they did not get out, they were yelled at, threatened, and both the vehicle and the driver were recorded with their mobile phones, especially their licence number, since they are AMT taxis, and this information is subsequently shared on social networks with the aim of pointing out and coercing these workers.

The two detainees were placed at the disposition of the Badalona Investigative Court No1 on September 16th, where they were freed by a judge, but faced with charges, as reported by lavanguardia.com.

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