<p>A toll plaza employee was beaten to death by two car passengers around Sunday midnight in a scuffle over removing a boom barrier on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, police said. </p>.<p>Police have identified four suspects and vowed to apprehend them by Tuesday morning. </p>.<p>Around 9.30 pm, a luggage auto-rickshaw took longer than expected to pay the toll at the NHAI's Sheshagirihalli toll plaza, about 30 km west of Bengaluru. </p>.<p>The auto didn't have a FASTag, and the driver was asked to pay double the toll in cash, as per the rules. Meanwhile, a Hyundai i10 headed for Bengaluru from Mysuru pulled up behind the auto. It had a FASTag and four passengers. </p>.<p>The car driver got impatient and sounded the horn, asking the staff to remove the boom barrier so he could pass. The staff didn't pay heed. </p>.<p>One of the passengers got out of the car and picked an argument with the toll plaza employees — Pavan Kumar Nayak and Manjunath. But things didn't escalate immediately. </p>.<p>The car moved on and stopped some distance away. All passengers got off the car and brawled with the staff. A video posted on social media shows both sides punching and kicking each other. </p>.<p>While the car left, two men waited about half a kilometre away. Nayak and Manjunath finished their shift around midnight and walked to a nearby lake for drinks. </p>.<p>As Nayak and Manjunath sat on the lake parapet, car passengers ambushed them, beating them with clubs. Nayak suffered a grievous head injury and was rushed to BGS Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries early Monday morning. Manjunath also suffered injuries but is out of danger, police said. </p>.<p>"It was a road-rage incident. The car passengers were furious because the staff took time to process the toll payment for the luggage auto," Ramanagara Superintendent of Police Karthik Reddy told <em>DH</em>. </p>.<p>Nayak, 26, was from Sikkepalya, a hamlet near Tavarekere in the Ramanagara district.</p>.<p>Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March, the expressway has toll plazas at Kaniminike and Sheshagirihalli. Users often complain about mismanagement and accuse toll plaza staffers of rude behaviour. </p>.<p>Officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were unavailable for comment.</p>
<p>A toll plaza employee was beaten to death by two car passengers around Sunday midnight in a scuffle over removing a boom barrier on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, police said. </p>.<p>Police have identified four suspects and vowed to apprehend them by Tuesday morning. </p>.<p>Around 9.30 pm, a luggage auto-rickshaw took longer than expected to pay the toll at the NHAI's Sheshagirihalli toll plaza, about 30 km west of Bengaluru. </p>.<p>The auto didn't have a FASTag, and the driver was asked to pay double the toll in cash, as per the rules. Meanwhile, a Hyundai i10 headed for Bengaluru from Mysuru pulled up behind the auto. It had a FASTag and four passengers. </p>.<p>The car driver got impatient and sounded the horn, asking the staff to remove the boom barrier so he could pass. The staff didn't pay heed. </p>.<p>One of the passengers got out of the car and picked an argument with the toll plaza employees — Pavan Kumar Nayak and Manjunath. But things didn't escalate immediately. </p>.<p>The car moved on and stopped some distance away. All passengers got off the car and brawled with the staff. A video posted on social media shows both sides punching and kicking each other. </p>.<p>While the car left, two men waited about half a kilometre away. Nayak and Manjunath finished their shift around midnight and walked to a nearby lake for drinks. </p>.<p>As Nayak and Manjunath sat on the lake parapet, car passengers ambushed them, beating them with clubs. Nayak suffered a grievous head injury and was rushed to BGS Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries early Monday morning. Manjunath also suffered injuries but is out of danger, police said. </p>.<p>"It was a road-rage incident. The car passengers were furious because the staff took time to process the toll payment for the luggage auto," Ramanagara Superintendent of Police Karthik Reddy told <em>DH</em>. </p>.<p>Nayak, 26, was from Sikkepalya, a hamlet near Tavarekere in the Ramanagara district.</p>.<p>Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March, the expressway has toll plazas at Kaniminike and Sheshagirihalli. Users often complain about mismanagement and accuse toll plaza staffers of rude behaviour. </p>.<p>Officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were unavailable for comment.</p>
