NZ police spread ambit of hunt for Indian-origin taxi driver's killer

Auckland, Feb 2(ANI): New Zealand police have said that they are putting every available resource into the hunt for Indian-origin taxi driver Hiren Mohini's killer.

Mohini, a 39-year-old Mount Roskill resident, died on an ambulance stretcher minutes after being stabbed repeatedly by a frenzied customer for the sake of a 20 dollar fare, in what police described as a frenzied attack.

Detective Senior Sergeant Hywel Jones said that the inquiry team had been increased to 40 with the extra staff being used to examine CCTV footage from around the CBD where Mohini picked up his fare.

He said a hotline police had set up since the killing had had an encouraging response.

"Every call we receive is important to us, every inquiry we make is a breakthrough," Stuff.co.nz quoted Sergeant Jones, as saying.

"The community and the nation want to see the person or persons responsible for this frenzied attack held to account for this murder," he added.

It is believed that Mohini, a husband and father of two, picked up his attacker at the central Sky City taxi stand before travelling the short distance to View Rd in Mt Eden. At 1.23 a.m. he pushed the panic button in his cab, sending an emergency alert across the whole Auckland Co-Op network.

Witnesses claim that a young male was seen running towards Esplanade Road immediately after the crash, police say.

The man they are seeking is described as a slim-built, dark-skinned male in his mid to late twenties with long, greasy hair to the back of his neck.

He was wearing a long-sleeved button-up shirt, dark denim jeans and black leather shoes and was carrying a black bag with a strap. (ANI)