Gujarat Police have booked five persons for allegedly running a fake toll plaza to help vehicles bypass the genuine toll plaza and provide a passage from a private route by charging money much less than the actual toll in Morbi district.
The busting of the fake plaza which, according to sources, had been running for more than a year and reportedly collected more than ₹75 crore from vehicles, has come as another embarrassment for the government just a few weeks after the police busted a network of conmen who were running fake government offices and swindled around ₹18.5 crore grants in tribal areas of central Gujarat.
The toll plaza was built on a private land in Gujarat’s Morbi district by bypassing a national highway and charged 50% the price and cheated commuters, police, and government officials for over a year.
“We received information that some vehicles were being diverted from the actual route of the Varghasia toll plaza and toll tax was being collected. The police and other officials reached the spot to investigate and filed a detailed complaint,” local district Collector GT Pandya said.
The bait of paying 50% of the regular rate tempted commuters to take the route and the illegal tax collected went unnoticed for over a year. The accused were found to have diverted the traffic from the actual route using a land owned by a closed factory called White House Ceramic Company.
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.
