Over a dozen booked for threatening toll booth staffer with guns

Around 15 to 20 persons were Monday booked for brandishing firearms and threatening a toll plaza employee here, police said.

The incident occurred at around 2.45 pm when the main accused, travelling alone in a car, reached the National Highway Authority of India's (NHAI) Luharali toll plaza, between Dadri and Sikandrabad, they said.

"When asked to pay the toll of around Rs 100, the unidentified man expressed reluctance and tried to cross the barricading. When the toll plaza official insisted, the accused made a few phone calls," Circle Officer, Dadri, Satish Kumar said.

"Soon, around 15-20 men arrived at the toll plaza and a ruckus ensued. The main accused pointed a gun at the employee as his aides hurled abuses at him. The whole episode was captured on a CCTV camera," Kumar said.

Station House Officer, Dadri, Ram Sen Singh said the aides appeared to be private security guards as they were in similar uniforms. They too brandished their weapons.

"It appears from the footage that the firearms they carried were licensed," he said, adding that the police have registered a first information report based on a complaint by the toll plaza management.

The men were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) among others, police said.

Efforts were being made to identify them with the help of the CCTV footage and a probe was underway, police said.