Gujarat police book five for running fake toll plaza

Ahemdabad: After busting six fake government offices that swindled over Rs 18 crore from government funds, the Gujarat police on Monday registered an FIR against five persons for allegedly running a fake toll booth and collecting money from commuters in Morbi district.

The action came following news reports which claimed that the toll booth was operational for nearly one-and-a-half years right under the nose of the district administration. The accused created roads bypassing the toll booth and charged the passersby far less than the actual toll tax.

Following the reports, Gujarat minister Rushikesh Patel during a media briefing claimed that an investigation has been ordered and based on the finding "strict action will be taken against the culprits and they will be put behind bars."

Later in the day, the district administration swung into action and after confirming the reports, filed an FIR with the Wankaner city police station. Officials said that since the toll booth agency refused to file a complaint, the local police became the complainant.

The FIR has been registered against Amarshi Patel, Ravirajsinh Jhala, Harvijaysinh Jhala, Dharmendrasinh Jhala, Yuvrajsinh Jhala, all residents of Waghasia in Wankaner, and other unidentified persons under the charges of extortion, criminal breach of trust, cheating, among others.

Ravirajsinh is said to be a retired army man. The accused used to charge from Rs 20 to Rs 200 from car owners to heavy truck drivers against the actual toll tax of Rs 110 to Rs 595 for these vehicles. Addressing the media later in the day, Morbi collector G T Pandya said that the "information pertaining to the fake toll booth running for over one-and-a-half-year was not true."

He said that the local administration took cognisance of the offence as soon as it came to its notice. However, local leaders claimed that several applications were written to the local administration including National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) but no action was taken.

The FIR states that the accused were using a closed ceramic factory named White House and created a road to bypass the Waghasiya toll plaza on Bamanbore-Kutch national highway between Morbi and Wankaner. They created a similar road for the traffic coming from Wankaner to Morbi. Locals said that the commuters never complained since they were charged much lower than the actual tax.

Police said that officials of Bamanbore Tollway Private Limited, which has the contract to collect toll, refused to file any complaint, saying they were not authorised.

The case comes days after the busting of a fake government office in central Gujarat. The investigation into this case led the police to bust six more similar offices in Dahod district which together had swindled over Rs 18 crore government funds over the last couple of years. The police recently arrested a retired IAS officer over the matter.