Saharanpur, Jan 15: Police in Saharanpur have arrested four individuals, including a local Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, for allegedly operating an illegal toll collection racket targeting tractor-trolleys at the Sarasava toll plaza.
The accused, identified as toll owner Kamaljeet Pradhan (an SP member), manager Kalu Singh Ranawat and two employees, were apprehended following a raid on January 9 initiated by District Magistrate Manish Bansal. The illegal collection is estimated to be around Rs 50 crore over the past year.
Fake receipts, farmers targeted
The investigation revealed that the accused were forcibly charging Rs 130 from every tractor-trolley passing through the plaza, despite there being no rule for toll collection from such vehicles on highways.
Fake receipt books were allegedly used to collect the money, primarily from farmers and transporters engaged in the region’s poplar wood trade, which supplies raw material to numerous plywood factories in neighbouring Yamunanagar, Haryana. The police are now examining five years of toll plaza records.
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Political controversy erupts
The arrest has sparked a political controversy. SP leaders have alleged that the action was politically motivated and orchestrated by the sitting BJP MLA from Nakur, Mukesh Choudhary, to sideline Kamaljeet Pradhan, who was seeking an SP ticket from the same constituency.
The BJP MLA has denied the allegations, stating that he even tried to help secure the accused’s release and that the law must take its course. A local court has rejected the bail pleas of all four accused.
