Thousands of vehicles passed the Fatehabad toll plaza on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway without paying a toll on Sunday after employees went on a strike and opened the gates for free movement, over the denial of a Diwali bonus.
Visuals from the spot showed the vehicles cross the toll both without any tax payment in an unprecedented incident that is believed to have caused losses worth several lakhs of rupees to the Union Government.
The Expressway serves as a major artery for Uttar Pradesh, providing a direct link between Agra and Lucknow. It also connects to Delhi and the National Capital Region through the Yamuna Expressway.
"I have been working with the company for the past one year but they have not given us any bonus. We have been working so hard but they do not even give us our salaries on time. The company is telling us now they will replace the staff but will not give us any bonus," one of the protesting employees said.
The employees work for Shrisai and Datar Company. Some of them claimed they were assured that their bonuses on the occasion of Diwali would get credited to their bank accounts last week but no such development has taken place.
The angry employees subsequently opened the boom barrier of the toll booth on Sunday night and sat on a strike. The sit-in continued for 10 hours and was lifted following assurance of a bonus from the officials.
There was no immediate statement from the company at the time of filing this report.
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