Gurgaon villagers allege toll operator used police to collect fee

Gurgaon, March 21 (IANS) People from 31 villages near the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway on Saturday alleged that the toll operator was forcefully collecting fee with the help of police.

Police told IANS that 50 personnel were deployed at the toll plaza for security purposes, but they cannot be asked to collecting toll fee.

All vehicles -- private and commercial -- belonging to people in the 31 villages -- were supposed to get 'toll-free' tags, but those who do not have vehicles registered in their names were not provided tags.

The villagers say a large number of vehicles are not registered in their names as many of them got them as gifts during their weddings.

They alleged that Skylark Highway Solution Limited (SHSL), the firm assisting the Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL) -- the concessionaire company of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway to collect toll -- has been forcefully collecting toll from vehicles who do not have tags.

Heated arguments between toll employees and villagers have become a routine.

A group of villagers created a ruckus at the toll plaza and staged a protest outside the Kherki Daula police station on Saturday against collection of toll.

Some left their vehicles in the lanes of plaza as the operator did not allow them to pass for free, resulting in traffic jam near the plaza.

One of the protesters, Rajesh Yadav from Rampura village, told IANS that toll employees charged fee with the help of police, SHSL CMD T.C. Rao.

Rao did not respond to phone calls made by IANS.

However, an official of the concessionaire accepted that the toll issue was still there even after the company issued over 5,000 tags.

A toll attendant, Umesh Kant Pandey, was shot dead over a toll issue in September 2011.