Police resorted to teargas and cane-charge as an irate mob demanding unconditional release of the arrested activists of the Yuva Rajput Sabha blocked the Jammu-Pathankot highway and pelted stones at the police on Tuesday. They were demanding the removal of the toll plaza on the highway that has been badly damaged due to floods and rains.
The protesting youth said that CRPF and police were deployed in strength and they resorted to bursting teargas shells and canecharging to chase them away and reopen the highway.
Supporters of the arrested youths gathered on the highway at Bari Brahmanan and other places and marched towards the toll plaza at Sarore where restrictions under Section 144 Cr. Pc has been imposed. Police put up barricades to prevent the mobs from proceeding there.
Hundreds of vehicles of tourists and locals were caught in the massive traffic jam on the highway.
Having been taken into custody by the police for ransacking the toll plaza on Monday, activists of the Yuva Rajput Sabha on Tuesday said they have started a hunger strike in the lockup to protest against “high handedness” of the authorities.
In a video message from inside the lockup, a leader of the Sabha said they will continue their agitation against the establishment of the toll plaza.
The Jammu Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Apni Party have supported the youths demanding the lifting of the toll plaza. They also demanded the release of the arrested youths.
Former minister and Apni Party leader, Manjit Singh demanded that the toll plazas at Sarore and Lakhanpur on the highway should be wound up. He said the highway is badly damaged and a portion of a bridge has sunk due to floods as a result of which truckers and motorists had to take a lengthy route and as such there was no justification in charging toll tax by the NHAI.
Apni Party activists staged a protest in the outskirts of Jammu against toll tax collection at Sarore in the Samba district.
The protesters gathered at Nai Basti to express anguish against the “anti-people policy” of the government that was causing harassment to people.
Toll collection should be suspended till the highway is properly restored, they demanded.
Apni Party activists also expressed concern on the issue of the installation of smart meters by the power department. Consumers were receiving inflated electricity bills on such meters, they claimed.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and union minister Dr. Jitendra Singh have already taken up the issue of toll collection with the NHAI. Local leaders of the BJP, Congress, and other parties have also expressed concern against the toll plaza.