Ahmedabad

Advertisment

In what comes as a news straight out of a Bollywood movie, a group of strongmen in the western Indian state of Gujarat duped government officials for over a year by setting up a fake toll plaza and extracting millions from commuters, according to an NDTV report.

The fake toll plaza was reportedly built on private land in the Morbi district of the state, bypassing a national highway that connected Kutch. The men operating the plaza diverted the traffic from the actual route via land owned by the White House Ceramic Company, a closed factory in the Varghasia village.

The scammers baited the commuters by charging 50 per cent the price of the regular toll plaza. As per the details, the accused would 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. 

Advertisment

According to reports, the accused managed to collect more than $8.9 million (Rs 75 crore) in illegal taxes from the commuters.

Watch | New airline ticket scam, world's most active extortion gang, and more | Tech It Out: ​EP 134

×

Advertisment

Upon being informed of the scam, the authorities reached the spot to take charge of the situation.

"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.

Also read | New Jersey police apprehend Albert Einswine, a pot-bellied 'fugitive' pig on the loose

However, it has emerged that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the plaza manager had already written a letter to the local police, informing them of the ongoing scam. Local sources informed The Hindu that the commuters never complained as they were being let go by paying half the price.   

The police have registered a complaint against the private White House Ceramic Company's owner Amarshi Patel and his aides Vanraj Singh Jhala, Harvijay Singh Jhala, Dharmendra Singh Jhala, Yuvraj Singh Jhala and unknown people.

Previous scam

Lately, the state of Gujarat has become notorious for such incidents. Last month, a former Gujarat-cadre Indian Administration Services (IAS) officer was arrested in the Dahod district for allegedly running six fake government offices. 

These offices received grants worth Rs 18.6 crore for implementing “irrigation-related projects”. They allegedly received Rs 11.74 crore for the alleged fraud in the financial year 2020-2021 when 52 projects were approved under three fake offices.

(With inputs from agencies)