Gwalior toll firing traced to 2 students:Revenge motive exposed, note written to divert police

Gwalior police have arrested two youths for firing at the Baraitha toll plaza after scanning more than 300 CCTV cameras within 48 hours of the incident. The accused have been identified as Ashwini Bhadauria (22), a resident of Virendra Nagar in Bhind, and Nikhil Chauhan (19), a resident of Tilda village in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh. Both are students and currently live in Badagaon, Gwalior. They were arrested from a hotel in Murar. Police have recovered the Bullet motorcycle, a country-made pistol, live cartridges and the scarf allegedly used to cover their faces during the crime. Fired to avenge old dispute, say police During interrogation, Ashwini told police that around a year ago he had an argument with toll employees while passing through the plaza with his father. Since then, he had been looking for an opportunity to take revenge. To mislead the police, he wrote a handwritten note referring to the construction of the Gwalior-Bhind highway and fired shots at the toll booth. Incident captured on CCTV The Baraitha Toll Plaza is located on the Gwalior-Bhind highway. The incident took place on Monday evening. According to police, there was no toll collector at booth number 07 at the time. Rohit Kumar, an employee from Agra, was present inside the booth. Two motorcycle-borne youths, wearing helmets and covering their faces with cloth, arrived from the Bhind side and stopped their bike at some distance from the toll plaza. The pillion rider walked towards the booth with a pistol in his hand. He handed over a handwritten note to Rohit and allegedly said, “Tell your manager that if the highway is not built, I will not let the toll operate. I will kill you.” He then fired multiple rounds. Rohit fell from his chair, and the bullets struck the computer system inside the booth. The two men fled the spot on their motorcycle. The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed at the toll plaza. Traced through bike number plate The note left at the spot stated that if the Gwalior-Bhind highway was not constructed, such incidents would continue. It also criticised the government and mentioned that “no more Akash will die”. Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh said that teams analysed footage from more than 300 CCTV cameras from the toll plaza up to various routes leading into Gwalior city. The accused were seen fleeing from Bhind Road through DD Nagar, Pinto Park and Tank intersection towards Number Seven Square. Although their faces were covered, investigators identified them through the motorcycle’s number plate, which ultimately led to their arrest.