MUMBAI: The Kasheli toll plaza along the Thane-Bhiwandi Road was vandalized and its staff assaulted late on Tuesday, allegedly by a mob of local villagers and supporters of Samajwadi Party MLA Abdul Rashid Tahir Momin .

The 100-strong mob rampaged through the toll plaza after its staff denied the two-time legislator free access into the power loom township and asked that he pay Rs 30 toll. Momin alleges the staff’s behaviour with him was “unruly”.

The violence—allegedly in the presence of Momin and a police team from Narpoli area—went on till early Wednesday. Left in its wake were damaged glass cabins, computers, surveillance cameras and other equipment collectively estimated to be worth over Rs 15 lakh.

The MLA from Bhiwandi said he did not lead the attack. The violence, he claimed, was “an outburst of emotions by the people from Kasheli who took offence at the treatment meted out to me by the staff”.

The Narpoli police have registered a complaint against the toll plaza duty manager Pangir Singh and recorded a case of rioting against unidentified persons.

Momin recounted that he “was heading home to Bhiwandi with my wife and other close relatives around midnight when my car was stopped at the Kasheli toll booth”. “I informed the attendant that as MLA, I am exempted from payment of toll. He refused to believe me and demanded to check my ID card. I handed him the card, but he was rude and insisted that my vehicle would not be allowed to pass until I paid Rs 30 toll,” Momin told TOI.

The legislator sought to meet the person in charge, but, he claims, his demand was not met. “I called up the police commissioner and informed the local police about the toll agent’s rude behaviour. Local villagers from Kasheli started to assemble at the toll plaza and went on a rampage. I had nothing to do with the violence,” Momin said.

A manager with the toll plaza contractor Kalyan Sangam Infratec Ltd, Motilal, alleged the MLA led the mob attack and that the police chose to watch silently. “Every day we encounter motorists who claim to be VIPs. On Tuesday night, when the MLA came to the tollgate, our man asked him to pay the toll, to which he took offence. How do you expect us to know the MLA? He was travelling in a private car with his family members. Momin argued with the attendant and got out of the car, leading to a disagreement with the staff,” Motilal said.

Motilal alleged that Pangir Singh was brutally assaulted by Momin’s supporters and taken to the police station by cops without first being treated for injuries.

Momin claimed he was targeted at the toll plaza because he recently spoken against toll contractors at a district meeting. “Bhiwandi taluka has six toll posts and residents have to pay toll every time they drive out of the township. I argued that Kasheli toll should be stopped since the contractor had failed to complete the roadwork, which causes long queues of motorists every day.”