Seven contractual staffers of the Kalindi Kunj toll plaza were arrested by the Noida Police for allegedly killing a commercial truck driver after he failed to pay Rs 14,000 demanded by them, officials said on Monday.
The 30-year-old canter truck driver was on his way from Sector 59 in Noida to Ghitorni in Delhi when he was attacked by the seven accused at the toll plaza on the night of August 9. His body was later dumped near a drain, a senior police officer said.
The toll plaza is under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The seven people were not MCD appointed staffers but were engaged by a private contractor handling operations at the toll plaza.
The accused have been identified as Manroop, Dharmpal, Amit Kumar, Chetan Prakash, Mohammad Sirajuddin, Manoj and Krishna Kumar.
"Vimal Kumar Tiwari (truck driver) had paid a tax of Rs 1,400 at the toll tax booth for passage, as per rules. After he passed the booth, his vehicle was chased and stopped. The toll booth staffers asked him to pay a fine of Rs 14,000 and issued a fake 'challan'.
"He (driver) resisted and called up his boss to inform him about the 'extortion' bid at the toll plaza," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna told reporters.
More From This Section
The senior police officer said Tiwari protested and did not pay the money.
"He was attacked by the seven staffers who hit him with their hands and sticks before dumping him near a drain on the Noida side, some 100 metres from the toll plaza, thinking he was dead.
"Later when informed about the incident, Tiwari's brother along with the police took the victim to a hospital where he was declared dead," Krishna.
A case was registered at the Sector 39 police station of Noida and the probe taken up which led to the arrest of these toll plaza staffers.
"The accused have told the police that they were doing this (extorting money from commercial vehicles through illegal fines) on the instructions of the toll plaza manager, who is absconding," the SSP said.
The FIR has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 384 (extortion), 302 (murder), he said.