Admitting to presence of "rogue" elements at toll plazas in the state,Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil today said such unauthorised workers will be booked for "extortion" if they continue fleecing commuters. "There are certain errant collectors at toll nakas who harass women and behave rudely with commuters. Those from the criminal background should not be recruited at toll plazas. We will slap extortion cases against those,apart from the authentic staff at toll nakas,if they are found collecting toll from commuters," Patil told the Legislative Council. He was replying to a calling attention motion moved by NCP legislator Sanjay Patil who alleged that he was intercepted and assaulted at Khed-Shivapur toll naka near Pune. Action will be taken against the managers of toll plazas if they appoint people with criminal past,he said,adding similar instances had come to light at various octroi points in the state. Earlier,members from Opposition and treasury benches created a uproar over the reply given by Minister of State for PWD Ranjit Kamble on the issue following which the Chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh asked Patil to reply on the issue. The issue of collection of the duty at toll plazas has generated a lot of heat in the state with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray exhorting people to avoid paying the toll.
