CHENNAI: Two days after the Paranur toll plaza near Chengalpattu was vandalised by a government bus crew and passengers, a police complaint was filed on Tuesday saying Rs. 18 lakh cash went missing from 12 toll booths during the melee.
A CCTV footage from the toll booth showed a man, with his face covered using a handkerchief, entering the office room and ransacking the place. Police suspect him to be one of the miscreants who stole the money.
On Monday, police arrested five persons in this connection. They are Kuldeep Singh (24) of Rajasthan and Vikas Gupta (27) from Uttar Pradesh, both staff at the Panarur toll Plaza; a government bus driver Narayanan (46) and conductor Pasumpon (38), both from Tirunelveli; and Muthu (37) of Chengalpattu.
The issue happened on Sunday when an SETC bus plying from Chennai to Tiruchy reached Paranur toll booth at 1 am.
The toll booth staff asked the driver to pay toll charges, though government buses are usually exempt from toll charges. The demand sparked off an argument, following which the booth staff allegedly attacked the bus driver and conductor. Seeing this, the bus passengers got down and supported the bus crew.
Soon, other bus drivers reached the spot and joined the fracas by blocking all lanes. The toll plaza was allegedly vandalised.