Two toll booth operators attacked on MG Road after truck drivers were denied free passage

A group of truck drivers have been asking us to excuse them from paying toll fee. They picked up fights with the workers when they were denied passage without payment.

A group of around 60 men allegedly attacked a toll booth on Mehrauli-Gurgaon road on Wednesday leaving two toll workers injured. The assault comes in the wake of booth operators denying free passage to some truck drivers from the past couple of days.

A toll booth that was damaged by goons on MG Road, Gurgaon on Wednesday. (Isha Sahni/HT Photo)

The booth collected entry tax from the commercial vehicles entering Delhi from the neighbouring state and was managed by an agency appointed by South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The goons, who came in SUV cars were armed with wooden sticks, and started beating the workers around 8.45 AM.

“I was inside the booth, when suddenly a bunch of men pulled me out. They started beating us staffers and broke the toll booths. Two of the staffers were injured while I had a narrow escape,” Johnson Mathew, a toll booth staffer, said.

The goons destroyed the booth and smashed windshield and windows of the staffers’ jeeps which were parked near the booth.

Ravi Chokar, booth manager, said, “Our two tolls and three jeeps were broken. The police was called immediately. We are trying to see if the group has also taken away the cash we had collected.”

“It is a group of truck drivers who have been asking us to excuse them from paying toll fee. They picked up a few fights with the workers in the last couple of days as they did not allow the drivers to cross without paying the fee,” Chokar claimed.

A team of Delhi Police officials reached the spot and took the injured staffers to the hospital.

“We are investigation the CCTV camera footages of the booth and trying to see if the men can be identified. A team of officials is further investigating the case,” said Naresh, a Delhi Police official.