An Indian student working as a taxi driver was killed on Wednesday after a man being chased by police hijacked his cab and pushed him out of the moving vehicle.
Police believe 27-year-old Rajneesh Joga, who had arrived recently from India to study in Melbourne, was assaulted and hurled out by his killer who hailed the cab while he was escaping.
The 20-year-old killer was first chased by police on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. A pursuit began, but police pulled out several minutes later when two of the stolen car's tyres blew out, a news channel reported.
The car was found abandoned further up the road and the man is suspected to have been hit by another car and injured as he fled.
It is believed that he then hailed Joga's passing taxi, assaulted him and threw him out of the car.
The shock killing has renewed calls to protect cabbies from violent members of the public.