Demand for toll-free movement
Indefinite lorry strike from July 20
Bengaluru, July 18: Owners of the commercial goods lorries called for an indefinite strike from July 20 across the country demanding toll-free movement and reduction in insurance premium and bringing diesel under GST.
Speaking to reporters at the Press Club here on Wednesday, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association president GR Shanmugappa said that despite submitting memorandums to the central government several times seeking fulfillment of their demands, no action was taken. This attitude of the government has forced the lorry owners to call for indefinite strike once again, he said.
The country has total 412 toll-gates and annually, the lorry owners have to pay Rs 1.2 lakh crore as toll fee. They were ready to pay the toll fee, but the payment method should be changed. Around one crore commercial vehicles were passing through toll-gates. They were ready to pay the 50 per cent of the toll fee in advance and they should be given free movement in all toll gates. This would help the government get thousands of crores revenue annually, he said.
If the government imposed just Re 1 cess per litre of diesel of commercial vehicle plying in the country, the government could have collected Rs 13,000 crore and if it was doubled, the cess revenue would be Rs 26,000 crore. With this, the government could make toll-free movement. Normally, the lorries would have to stop at least 15-20 minutes in tollgate. A lorry which travels from Bengaluru to New Delhi has to waste around 14 hours in tollgates due to which, the diesel was being wasted. Around Rs 84,000 crore was being wasted on diesel, vehicle repair and tollgate maintenance, he said.
All associations like Bus Owners Association, Vegetables Transportation Lorry Owners Association and others have extended their support to the indefinite strike. Except the service of essential commodities like medicines and milk, more than 90 lakh lorries in the country and 6 lakh lorries in the state would stay off the roads, he said.
Demands
- Goods vehicles should be made toll-free
- Diesel price should be brought under GST and adopt tri-monthly review system
- TDS should be cancelled and advance payment method should be introduced.
- Problem in the e-way bill system should be sorted out.
- Tourist vehicles and buses should be given national permits.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
