Noida Police on Monday arrested seven staffers of Kalindi Kunj toll plaza for allegedly killing a truck driver after he refused to pay a 'fine' of Rs 14,000.
"The accused have told the police that they were doing this (extorting money from commercial vehicles through illegal fines) on the instructions of the toll plaza manager, who is absconding," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna told reporters.
The toll plaza is under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The seven people were not MCD appointed staffers but were engaged by a private contractor handling operations at the toll plaza.
The 30-year-old truck driver was on his way from Sector 59 in Noida to Ghitorni in Delhi when he was attacked by the seven accused at the toll plaza on the night of August 9. His body was later dumped near a drain
"Vimal Kumar Tiwari (truck driver) had paid a tax of Rs 1,400 at the toll tax booth for passage, as per rules. After he passed the booth, his vehicle was chased and stopped. The toll booth staffers asked him to pay a fine of Rs 14,000 and issued a fake 'challan'. He (driver) resisted and called up his boss to inform him about the 'extortion' bid at the toll plaza," Said the SSP.
Tiwari then drove ahead without paying the extortion amount and that is when the seven accused chased him, beat him with sticks and dumped him in a drain thinking that he was dead.
As Tiwari's brother came to know about the incident, he rushed to the spot along with the police and took him to hospital. But Tiwari was declared dead.
The accused have been identified as Manroop, Dharmpal, Amit Kumar, Chetan Prakash, Mohammad Sirajuddin, Manoj and Krishna Kumar.
(With inputs from PTI)
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