Earlier this year, an American, Australian and then a Japanese tourist were abducted by these touts along with some taxi drivers. A month ago, touts beat up an airport employee and last Wednesday an employee of pre-paid taxi counter was abducted and robbed by these touts.

Members of the airport taxi union say the unauthorised taxi network at the airport is run with the connivance of the local police. The affected taximen have written to the Commissioner, Transport Department (Delhi), about this.

``There is an organised racket of unauthorised taxis,'' the letter states, ``running at the Indira Gandhi Airport, and they have even duped the passengers.'' The letter details the ``rate card'' and the ``payments'' made by the taxi mafia to Station House Officer (Delhi Airport), the traffic inspector (IGI Airport) and even the vigilance department, not to speak of the constables and head constables on duty at the airport.

``There have been a number of cases of foreign tourists being duped of their money...also they charge much more than the rates of the pre-paid taxis, still no action has been taken against them in spite of repeated complaints,'' says Satya Prakash Yadav, President of the Delhi Airport Taxi Union.

According to him, in the process, law-abiding taximen are getting a bad name. ``Every taxi that goes through the authorised pre-paid counter has its number noted down, besides we have its record. There is no question of us ripping off customers because we have to stay here. But the rogue taximen can dupe the passengers as there are no records,'' he said.

When this reporter visited the domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi Airport on Saturday night, touts hanging around the arrival area accosted a passenger the moment he arrived. This went on right under the nose of the traffic policemen stationed nearby.

According to airport sources, the modus operandi adopted by these touts was to park the taxis either in the general parking area meant for private vehicles or near the city side in a no-parking area.

The tout or the taxi driver would hang around the arrival gate and wait for a passenger. The moment they saw a foreign passenger, they would take him and then demand a huge fare. Besides this, even a private taxi operator at the domestic terminal was seen issuing pre-paid slips although there was a separate counter for pre-paid taxis functioning at the airport.

Moreover, even though there is no autorickshaw stand at the airport, some were being allowed to park there, allegedly with the connivance of the police.

The airport taxi union has written to the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Lt Governor, Chief Minister of Delhi, Police Commissioner and the Chairman, Airports Authority of India, about the problem of unauthorised taxis at the airport.

``What is surprising is that this is happening right near the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airports), but nothing is being done,'' said a senior airport official. Officials add that the touts they have caught during rounds are back at the aiport in a day or two. They say that they have given complaints about the unauthorised taxi racket and are preparing a report for airport director Harbans Kumar. Kumar confirmed that he had received complaints about the activities of the unauthorised taxis and touts at the airport. ``It is most unfortunate that this kind of a racket is running at the airport, it damages the image of the airport. I hope the police commissioner takes strict action against the guilty officials,'' he said.