Nagpur: Traffic came to a standstill on Samruddhi Expressway for nearly an hour on Sunday afternoon after a trailer driver, allegedly miffed over being challaned by Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials, parked the heavy vehicle across the Mumbai-bound lanes near Virul in Wardha district and fled with the keys.Police have detained the driver who now faces charges for blocking the expressway.As per officials, the trailer was challaned for halting illegally on the expressway and other violations. The incident occurred around noon. The driver allegedly entered into an argument with RTO personnel before entering the vehicle again. He then parked the trailer on the Mumbai-bound carriageway, blocking all the lanes, said officials.Police managed to move the trailer after around an hour by taking away the keys from the driver. Highway police SP Lohit Matani said, “The driver fled the spot along with the keys. Officials traced the driver, took the keys from his possession and removed the trailer to restore the traffic flow.”“We would be filing an FIR against the driver as he blocked the expressway and stopped officials from discharging their duty,” regional transport officer Kiran Bidkar said. He added that the process has also been initiated for cancelling the driver’s licence.Truck drivers present at the spot alleged that after a challan of Rs13,500 was issued, RTO officials took away the keys and documents of the trailer. The drivers further alleged that vehicles were not being allowed to proceed on the expressway even after paying challans. This, they claimed, led to resentment among the trailer driver and other truckers present at the spot. RTO officials refuted the allegations.
