Gurugram toll plaza employee booked for ₹17 lakh fraud

An employee of South Asian Tollways Pvt Ltd has been accused of defrauding the company of INR17 lakh ($23,000) by manipulating a handheld machine used to issue toll slips. He is also accused of deleting data to hide his wrongdoing and framing other employees for fraud. The company conducted an internal investigation and found evidence to support the allegations. The suspect has been identified, but no arrest has yet been made.

Police booked a 35-year-old employee of South Asian Tollways Pvt Ltd for allegedly defrauding the company of ₹17 lakh by collecting toll money and deleting data from a handheld machine at the Gurugram-Faridabad toll (at Bandhwari), police said on Sunday, adding that the suspect has been identified, however, no arrest has been made so far.

Gurugram toll plaza employee booked for ₹17 lakh fraud

Ashish Bhardwaj, the director of South Asian Tollways Pvt Ltd, filed a complaint at the Gwal Pahari police post after a female commuter reported a missing slip, which was later discovered to have been deleted.

According to Bhardwaj, the suspect was hired in December and assumed the role of the shift in charge in January. “In addition to toll booth computer-issued slips, a handheld machine is also used to issue slips during peak hours to reduce congestion. However, the suspect manipulated the machine, issuing approximately 550 slips daily and subsequently deleting the data. The suspect then passed the device to other employees, framing them for fraud,” he said.

Bhardwaj suspects that an individual from the back-end office may have colluded with the suspect. Internal investigations conducted by the company confirmed that the suspect embezzled ₹17 lakh during the four-month period. “We have collected evidence and CCTV footage to establish the fraud”, he said.

Dinesh Kumar, the station house officer of DLF Phase 1 police station, said, “The suspect gave a written apology to his company officials, however, on May 20, during questioning by senior toll company officials, the suspect became agitated, even threatened company officials and created a ruckus in the office”.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV, prompting officials to file a complaint with the police.

The suspect has been charged under sections 420 (cheating) and 381 (theft by a servant) of the Indian Penal Code at the DLF Phase-1 police station, SHO Kumar said, adding that they will arrest him soon and the CCTV footage is being examined to substantiate the allegations.