Army Jawan On Way To Srinagar Pinned To Pole, Assaulted By Toll Booth Staff

An Army jawan was pinned to a pole and thrashed during an altercation at a toll booth in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. Four toll booth staff have been arrested after a video of them assaulting the soldier circulated online.

The soldier, Kapil Kavad, is with the Rajput Regiment of the Indian Army. He was home for a holiday and was heading to Delhi airport to fly to his post in Srinagar. Kapil and his cousin got stuck at the crowded Bhuni toll booth. Anxious about getting late for his flight, Kapil got out of the car and started speaking to the toll booth staff.

An altercation followed and at least five toll booth employees thrashed Kapil and his cousin. A video of the assault showed them beating Kapil with a stick. Some assailants then pin Kapil to a pole, pull his hands back as one of them hurls abuses and beats up the soldier.

🔴#BREAKING | Army soldier assaulted at Uttar Pradesh toll plaza, held against pole and assaulted after he raised objection over long queues pic.twitter.com/2z11BnvpbO

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Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Superintendent of Police (Rural), said a case has been registered. "Kapil is in the Indian Army. He was returning to his post. There was a long queue at the Bhuni toll booth. He was in a hurry and he spoke to the toll booth staff. An argument began and the toll booth staff assaulted him. Following a complaint from his family, a case was registered at Sarurpur police station."

"Four accused have been arrested after scanning CCTV footage and videos. Two more teams are working to arrest the other accused," the senior officer said.

According to some reports, the altercation began when Kapil told the toll booth staff that his village is in the area exempted from toll charges. This led to an argument that snowballed into the soldier's assault.