Last year, I travelled to Murree along with my family. I stayed at Jawa Hotel in Murree. As I wanted to visit Patryata, Bhurban and a few other places, I told hotel staff that I wanted to hire a taxi. A person named Nadeem (hotel maintenance) told me he would arrange that.
Nadeem called up a taxi driver, Waqar Abbasi, asking him to take us wherever we want. We hired the taxi and Waqar Abbasi initially took us to Pindi Point. We wanted to go to Patryata first but Waqar Abbasi told us he could help us find a better and a cheaper accommodation, perhaps a small apartment in about Rs10,000 per month. We later found out it was impossible to find such cheap place in Murree. He took us to some place in Murree where rent was too high. It was a tactic to frustrate us.
He then suggested not to go to Patryata as it was now too late (It was afternoon. He deliberately wasted our time in finding accommodation so that he can mint more money). Instead of taking us to Patryata he took us to Neelum (some place at Kohala bridge, Azad Kashmir) for sightseeing. The next day instead of taking us to Patryata, he took us to his home in Phagwari, a small village around Murree (it is, in fact, a part of Murree).
As we didn't know the area and the people much, we never suspected anything wrong. Going to his place was big mistake. He tricked us and invited us to stay at his brother's unoccupied house without any cost which is near his home. At his home, he introduced us with his wife and child and insisted us to have breakfast and stay at his brother's house. I didn't want to stay there without paying money. I asked him how much did he want for six-day stay. He asked for Rs6,000 @ Rs1,000 per day. So, we decided to stay there. His hospitality and show of sincerity was all part of a drama and devious plan.
Phagwari was hot like hell and that too almost without electricity (There was power shutdown after every hour). We went to Patryata next day and he took Rs5,000 as taxi fare and oil for his taxi. By this time, I got suspicious and knew his game. He had planned and tricked us to stay there and looted as much money as he could on one pretext or the other.
The next day, we planned to leave that place for Murree. I told Waqar Abbasi I wished to leave this place as it was so hot as the house had tin sheets. He told (in fact, threatened me) I have to pay Rs6,000, whether we stay for whole week or leave now. I obviously refused as I had stayed for two days and already paid two-day rent by giving him Rs5,000 for taxi ride instead of Rs3,000.
He created an ugly scene with his threatening gestures, but I wasn't impressed. We somehow managed to leave that place after an hour-long argument and after Nadeem (hotel official) and the hotel's owner asked him to settle the issue and let us leave. The taxi driver, who takes pride in being from Abbasi community, showed his real face and asked for Rs500 for the breakfast, which I paid.
Even then he kept harassing by following us. It was 9.00pm and quite dark. We somehow managed to come down from the hilly area to the road with our luggage to find a transport for Murree where some people from the area shops provided us shelter and asked the taxi driver to leave. The villagers, who were Waqar Abbasi's relatives, told us that he is a notorious fraudster and a cunning person who had looted other people also. We returned to Murree and got our complaint against Waqar Abbasi registered with DSP Murree.
The mobile phone number of Waqar Abbasi is 0322-5171684. He has a yellow Suzuki Mehran taxi. Please also see his photo posted below. I have posted all this in public interest. So, please be careful and stay away with this fraudster if you are going to Murree this year with your family during summer holidays. I would advise people if they encounter Waqar Abbasi or any such person, they should not hesitate in contacting police or even the army personnel immediately for help.