Gang thrashes RTO constable for stopping overloaded truck

Four unknown men, suspected to belong to the coal mafia, attacked a constable attached to a flying squad of the regional transport office (RTO) in the wee hours of Friday morning after he seized a coal-carrying truck. The constable, identified as Pravin Bhoir, was carrying out surprise checks on vehicles along with other RTO officials, on the Western Express Highway near Agripada junction in Santacruz on Friday.

A 20-member squad stopped six coal trucks for overloading. The authorities asked the drivers of the trucks to pay the fine but they refused to do so. It was then that the officials told them that the trucks would be seized and taken to the Andheri RTO.

At that moment, the squad members spotted another overloaded truck and stopped it. Bhoir sat in this truck, and all of them made their way to the RTO in Andheri. On their way, according to Bhoir, a car suddenly intercepted the truck he was sitting in and forced it to stop.

Four people alighted from the car, dragged Bhoir out of the truck and began thrashing him. After assaulting Bhoir, they escaped with the truck. "This is the first time that such an incident has occurred. They pulled me out of the truck and assaulted me." Authorities from the Vakola police station believe that the accused were related to the coal mafia.

Copspeak
"We have registered a case on the charges of robbery and assaulting an official. We are trying to trace the accused with the help of the number plate that Bhoir managed to take a note of while being beaten," said an official from the Vakola police station.