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Mahmood Bhatti
Toronto ON / May 2, 2006
At 3:17 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Beck Taxi driver Mahmood Bhatti, 40, was on his way home when he decided to pick up one last fare. Minutes after entering the cab, the man attacked Bhatti with a knife, stabbing him several times in the neck, back and chest. One of the wounds pierced his spine. Bhatti died in hospital without regaining consciousness after he was removed from life support.
After the attack Bhatti's cab crashed into a parked car. Police quickly recognized the killer from photos taken by the taxi's surveillance camera. A warrant for second-degree murder was issued for a 31-year-old man with a history of violence and weapons offences.
The killer robbed Bhatti but left the money on the back seat as he fled the cab. He escaped in a second taxi and was let off near the corner Bathurst Street and Lawrence Ave. West. Two hours later, at about 5:40 a.m., a third taxi driver picked a man up here and was knocked unconscious with a blunt object. Police suspected Bhatti's killer of carrying out this attack as well. Examination of security camera pictures in the two cabs confirmed this theory. Police recognized the killer as a 31-year-old former street gang member with a long criminal record.
Two other Toronto drivers were robbed in separate incidents on Monday, May 1. One was released unharmed by two men who held him up at gunpoint but the other had the back of his neck slashed. The cabs were stolen in both cases.
A native of Pakistan, Bhatti had driven taxi in Toronto for about 14 years, eventually purchasing his own cab. Prior to that he had driven in New York for about four years.
Bhatti was married and had two daughters aged nine and six and two sons aged three and 18 months. He was active in the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, teaching children at a local mosque, and provided for family members in both Canada and Pakistan.
"They are looking for their father," said Nusret Bhatti of her children. "They are waiting for their father all alone. My daughter is still asking 'can I go to the hospital and see my dad?'"
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