FOR 10 minutes, the passenger kicked, punched and twisted the arm of the taxi driver.

The cabby, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, could not stop his car as the 35-year-old man threatened to hurt him up if he pulled over.

Mr Goh picked up the man along Kampong Bahru Road at 1 am on Wednesday and was asked to go to Jurong West Street 81.

Along Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), the passenger, who was sitting next to the cabby, started fiddling with one of the information stickers pasted on the dashboard.

When Mr Goh told him to stop it, the man got angry and started a abusing the driver. He then poked Mr Goh's left eye and punched his left cheek.

Mr Goh immediately stopped his taxi at the road shoulder along AYE near the National University Hospital and got out of his taxi to call the police.

As he had left the key in the ignition, the passenger got into the driver's seat and drove off towards Jurong West. Mr Goh quickly alerted the police.

The police operator who picked up the call immediately rang the operations room of Comfort Taxi to alert all other taxi drivers to look out for the stolen taxi and to track it by GPS.

Police also alerted all units on the ground and the other taxi operators to look out for the hijacked taxi.

Acting on the information given, two quick thinking officers, Sgt Gary Chang Chey Meng and Cpl Muhammad Ismail from the Traffic Police Expressway Patrol positioned their patrol car at the slip road from Jurong Town Hall Road leading to AYE towards the city to ambush the taxi.

They sprung into action and gave chase in their car when they spotted the taxi speeding by and managed to stop the suspect along AYE opposite the Faber Hills Condominium.

The suspect smelt strongly of alcohol and later failed the breathalyser test. He was arrested on the spot for drink driving and robbery with hurt.

The suspect will be charged in court on Thursday for robbery with hurt, said police.

If convicted, he can be jailed between five and 20 years and caned at least 12 times.