Kasaragod: Chaos gripped the Monday morning National Highway 66 at Kumbla as hundreds of protesters descended on the Arikkady toll plaza site around 7 am, paralysing traffic during peak office and school hours. The protest erupted on the very first day the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) planned to begin toll collection at the temporary plaza, just 20 km from the existing Talapady toll gate on the Kerala-Karnataka border.

After more than three hours of a standoff, police arrested the protest leaders, including Manjeshwar MLA A K M  Ashraf, and took them to Kumbla police station, following which the NHAI resumed toll collection at the temporary toll gate in Kumbla. Protesters have now shifted their agitation to the front of the police station.

An all-party action committee, led by the MLA, is spearheading the protest, demanding that NHAI adhere to the mandatory 60-km rule between toll plazas. The MLA warned that toll collection would not be allowed unless the plaza was shifted to Chalingal in Periya panchayat -- where the 60 km-distance norm is met, or at least exempt Manjeshwar Assembly constituency, which is close to the Talapady toll gate.

By early morning, around 1,000 people had gathered at the site, said Kumbla panchayat member Khalid. "But the block is not because of our protest. The police have put up iron barricades on both sides of the highway, which has triggered a massive traffic pile-up," he said. Only ambulances were allowed through, he said.

"NHAI should have waited as the Action Committee's writ petition against the temporary toll gate is pending before the High Court," said Khalid. Except for the BJP, all parties are part of the Action Committee. The protesters are in talks with the police and the district administration, but they said they would not allow toll collection at