Toll plaza employee thrashed in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida, 2 arrested

An employee at a toll plaza on a national expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar was allegedly thrashed by over half-a-dozen men angry about being asked to pay the tax, police said on Wednesday.

An FIR has been lodged and two of the accused arrested for their involvement in the incident that took place on Tuesday at the toll plaza on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida's Dadri area, they said.

A video of the violence that surfaced on social media purportedly shows seven men alighting from an SUV and walking towards the toll counter. They were soon joined by two men who came on a scooter, apparently travelling in the wrong direction on the other side of the highway.

The men dragged a toll plaza staffer out on the road and thrashed him. Some landed slaps and elbows on his body while the others kicked the man when he fell on the ground, the video showed.

As seen in the video, there were only three to four vehicles at the toll plaza at the time of the incident while a man who was already standing there fled from the spot upon seeing the violence, as did two other men who came on a two-wheeler but took a u-turn immediately.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, Vishal Pandey said the police have filed an FIR of the incident and strict action will be taken against the culprits.

"The incident took place over some dispute regarding the collection of toll tax from the accused by the plaza official. An FIR has been registered in the case and strict action will be taken against the guilty," he said.

On Wednesday night, the district police said they have arrested two of the accused involved in the violence and also impounded the SUV and the scooter used by the men.

Those held have been identified as Rahul and Akash Bhati, both residents of Dadri area, the police said.

The FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 147 (rioting), 323 (causing hurt), 427 (mischief), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), the police added.

According to officials, the toll plaza employee was admitted at a local government hospital.

The Eastern Peripheral Express also known as the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal Expressway is a 135-km-long six-lane road connecting Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. It passes through Gautam Buddh Nagar.