Kathua , Aug 4
The Lakhanpur toll plaza, which became operational on July 21 in Jammu’s Kathua district, was demolished by a mob of local people late Monday night.
Trouble erupted after toll plaza staff allegedly manhandled a local youth, who refused to pay the toll. As the news spread, a strong mob comprising local people from nearby areas reached there and demolished the toll plaza infrastructure.
Police said that the mob damaged the toll collection counters, barriers, computers and even the CCTV cameras among other infrastructure. The trouble continued till midnight when police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Kathua SSP Shailendra Mishra said the Police have registered two separate FIRs in the matter, one against toll plaza staff, who manhandled the local youth for refusing to pay the toll and the other against the unknown mob, who ransacked the toll plaza. Six toll plaza staffs have been arrested, while efforts are on to identify people in the mob, he added.
The Lakhanpur toll plaza is the third toll collection center along the nearly 150 km stretch of the national highway between Ban near Nagrota to Lakhanpur in Kathua district, which has led to resentment among people.
Jammu gots its first toll plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Nagrota in 2015. In 2018, another toll plaza came up at Sarore, where BJP workers had dismantled the structure four years ago. The third toll plaza came up in Lakhanpur on July 21.
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