CHENNAI: The Arambakkam police registered a case against Rajasthan-based truck owner and Instagram influencer Shyam Lal Nokha (35) after he claimed to have conducted a sting operation to expose alleged illegal collection of money at the Elavur Integrated Check Post near Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district. He was arrested and later released on station bail.
According to the police, Shyam Lal runs the Instagram page trucked shyamlal, which has over 2.06 lakh followers. He regularly posts videos highlighting issues faced by truck drivers and illegal money collection at toll plazas and check posts.
The police said, on Friday, while passing through the Elavur check post, Shyam Lal recorded a video claiming to expose illegal money collection. The video that went later went viral on social media shows him alleging bribe collection from truck drivers and urging bystanders to record the incident. He also said in the video “Thalapathy Vijay” has asked not to pay money.
Based on a complaint lodged by an RTO inspector, the Arambakkam police registered a case against Shyam Lal for allegedly threatening officials and damaging public property. The police also said the check post does not have a FASTag facility and that the prescribed user fee is collected as per the established procedure.
DVAC had recently conducted a raid at the same check post and seized Rs 4.32 lakh in cash.