KUALA LUMPUR: A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) officer on vacation here was beaten up and robbed by the taxi driver who was driving him back to his hotel.

The 32-year-old airman was here to attend a friend's wedding and had boarded a taxi in Taman Tun Dr Ismail at about 2am on Friday to Bandar Menjalara, Kepong.

Once there, the Australian claimed that the taxi driver tried overcharging him for the fare.

"The victim saw that the taxi meter was RM28 but the suspect asked for RM60. He paid RM30 and got out of the taxi. When he did that, the suspect also got out and hit the victim with a stick.

"He hit him once on the left side of his head, causing the victim to fall to the ground," said Sentul OCPD Asst Comm R. Munusamy.

As the victim lay hurt, the taxi driver then helped himself to the RAAF officer's wallet and his Tag Heuer watch worth about RM3,000 and drove off.

ACP Munusamy said the incident allegedly happened some 50m from the victim's hotel, but there was no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras or witnesses to corroborate the report.

He said the victim described his attacker as in mid-30's, thin, about 170cm tall and was wearing a black collared shirt and grey pants.

The case is being investigated under Section 394 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery.