“The decision to withdraw the strike was taken after a meeting with R R Patil, who assured us that the police will identify and catch the culprits who are responsible for the attack on the union office,” said Quadros, who controls 48,000 of the city’s 55,000 yellow-and-black taxis. “He has directed the police to take stringent action against the attackers,” he added.

According to Quadros, around 20 men attacked union’s office around 11.30 am, to “terrorise” the union leaders and taxi drivers. Quadros was in the office then. The union leader who has held this office since 1991, said the attackers destroyed office furniture, computer and important documents. “They also raised slogans in support of MNS and disappeared from the scene within 10 minutes,” Quadros alleged. Minutes after the attack on the office, Quadros declared the strike, stating that while a police complaint had followed the stone-pelting on taxis and sporadic incidents of north Indian drivers being assaulted since Sunday, the attack on their office was “too much”. The decision to call the strike was “spontaneous”, he added.

Quadros has been demanding the arrest of MNS leader Raj Thackeray in the wake of violence against the taxi drivers and has also demanded that taxi drivers affected by the violence be properly compensated.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad said: “Besides the ransacking of the taxi union’s office in Nagpada, there was no violence in the city today. Some shops in Dahisar downed shutters voluntarily, as they bought into rumours that Raj Thackeray was being arrested.”