Gurgaon toll plaza staff booked for thrashing bus driver

Employees of the toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway were Saturday booked after a bus driver was beaten up and the vehicle damaged, police said.

Alleged musclemen of the contractor company Saturday thrashed the driver of a bus ferrying Maruti Suzuki employees to the Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar plant at Kherkidaula toll plaza.

They were reportedly demanding "hafta" (extortion money) from the driver and beat him up when he refused to pay.

"About 50 of our buses are attached with Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Denso companies for ferrying their staff. The bus was taking Maruti employees when two bouncers demanded Rs.100 from driver Rajiv Yadav, 25, at Kherkidaula toll barrier. Upon refusal to pay the money, the two damaged the main windscreen of the bus and thrashed the driver," bus owner Vinod Yadav told IANS.

Workers in the bus rescued the driver who was then admitted to a private hospital.

"We have monthly passes (Rs.3,490 per vehicle) but goons collect this extortion amount from almost all buses on the route. We had informed the toll manager and the police several times in the past regarding the illegal collection but authorities remained inactive," he added.

Angry people protested at the toll plaza forced vehicles to go without paying the toll for nearly half an hour. Police officers rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control after assuring the protesters of strict action.

"We have registered a case against toll officials under sections 427 (damaging property), 323 (thrashing-beating), 506 (threatening with life) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code," Hardeep Hooda, chief of Kherkidaula police station, said.

No one has been arrested so far.

No one was available for comment from IDFC, the infrastructure finance company managing the 27.8-km-long Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.