Around 500 booked for rioting as protest at Kumbla toll plaza turns violent

Kasaragod: Police have booked around 500 ‘identifiable’ protesters for rioting after a protest against the Kumbla toll plaza turned violent Wednesday night, with agitators vandalising toll infrastructure, including cameras used for FASTag collection and surveillance.

The toll gate at Kumbla on the Talapadi-Chengala stretch began operations on Monday, January 12, under heavy police protection. However, residents and an action committee led by Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf have been staging an indefinite protest at the site since Tuesday, alleging violations of prescribed distance norms. The rules prescribe a 60-km distance between two toll plazas on the same stretch of the highway, but the toll gate at Kumbla just 20km from the toll plaza at Talapady.

Around 7 pm on Wednesday, January 14, protesters from various parts of the district began arriving at the site, cutting across party lines and from various organisations, expressing solidarity with the MLA’s protest. Youth wings of political parties, including the DYFI, SFI and Muslim Youth League and Youth Congress, were also present.

As the crowd swelled, the protest took a violent turn around 7.45 pm. Protesters vented their anger on the toll plaza, damaging ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras and RFID readers used to scan FASTag stickers, and smashing window panes of the toll plaza. They also wrapped cloth over CCTV surveillance cameras, apparently to prevent recording.

Ashraf pleaded with the protesters over the public address system to disperse. But when his plea went unheeded, he left the protest tent. The protesters stayed at the toll plaza till midnight.

Based on a complaint filed by Kumbla Station House Office - Inspector Mukundan T K, police registered an FIR invoking provisions relating to unlawful assembly [BNS Section 189(2)], rioting [Sections 191(1)], and obstructing a public way [Section 285 of BNS].

Notably, police have not yet invoked the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, which would make protesters financially liable for the destruction caused.

Senior Congress leader and UDF convener Adoor Prakash is expected to arrive at the protest site to decide on the future course of the agitation, said leaders of the action committee. Ashraf is expected to return to the site.

The violence comes against the backdrop of a meeting convened by Collector K Inbasekar on Wednesday, attended by district MLAs and officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). During the meeting, NHAI officials maintained that toll collection at Kumbla would continue. As per the rule, the toll plaza should come up at Chalingal, 60km from Talapady, on the Chengala-Nileshwar stretch. But NHAI has set up the toll plaza at Kumbla because the stretch at Chalingal is still under construction, an explanation that does not sit well with the repeated letters the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways have written to NHAI.

The action committee’s writ petition challenging the toll plaza at Kumbla is scheduled to come up before the Kerala High Court on Friday, January 16.