Director of Hoan Kiem District's Police Department, Colonel Ha Manh Hung said on June 29 that they have summoned Nguyen Van Thanh, 58, to the station for the investigation.

According to the police officer, on June 26, an Australian man, Amin Goshti, 50, came to Hang Bong Ward Police Station to report about being attacked by a xe om taxi driver.

In his report, Amin Goshti said that he was walking near Hoan Kiem Lake to look for a xe om on early June 24 morning when a driver came up. When he asked about the fee to his place in Dao Tan Street, the driver showed his five fingers. Amin Goshti thought that meant VND 50,000 (USD2.20) and agreed.

However, after going for a while, the customer asked about the fee again and was told that it was VND500,000 (USD22). Disagreeing about the too high cost for a four-kilometre trip, he asked to stop and the driver asked him to pay VND100,000 for the service, the report said. 

When the customer insisted on only paying VND10,000 for the short distance of trip, the driver complained and attacked the Australian tourist.

Police identified the driver as Nguyen Van Thanh who had three earlier offences on record. At the police station on June 27, Thanh admitted his altercation with the Australian tourist.

dtinews