To avoid paying Rs 60 toll at Mumbai's Bandra-Worli Sea link, Mercedes car driver shows fake letter

A case of cheating and forgery was filed after a person in a Mercedes car showed a fake letter to escape paying toll of Rs 60 at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link here.

Police said that the incident happened around 8:20 pm on Thursday and the fake letter identified the holder as Bhavik Bhanushali.

"The car had a protocol sticker and the driver showed a letter to the toll attendant informing him that the car was exempt from toll," said Senior Police Inspector Pandit Thackeray of the Bandra police station.

Thackeray said the letter stated that the car was exempted from paying toll at the Mumbai Entry Point Ltd ( the firm which collects toll on behalf of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation) and IRB tolls on Mumbai Pune Express Way, MSRDC, National Highway 4 and Pune-Nashik toll points till December 2018.

"The letter had a logo of the MEPL and signature of the firm's vice chairman and managing director. The toll attendant grew suspicious and cross-checked it by sending an image of the letter to his senior colleague," Thackeray informed.

Police said that the car was allowed to proceed at the time as the inquiry and cross-checking was creating a bottleneck at the booth, much to the irritation of cars lined up behind the Mercedes.

Once the staff at the booth got a confirmation from their superiors that the letter was fake, a case of forgery and cheating was registered with the police, the official added.

"The entire episode has been captured on CCTV. We have forwarded the registration of the car to the Regional Transport Office to track down the owner of the car," the official added.