Bengaluru: Angry villagers set fire to a toll booth and ransacked 10 other booths at the Hoskote-Budigere toll plaza on National Highway 4 after a local resident was allegedly assaulted by employees of the toll company on Sunday.

Traffic on the busy road was thrown out of gear as tension prevailed for about three-and-half hours. Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse hundreds of villagers, many of whom sustained minor injuries.

Police said that around 10 am, the local, identified as Manjunath (20) of Huskur Gate, was on his way to Sulibele along with his family.

Manjunath, who had a free pass to use the toll plaza every day, was not carrying the pass with him at that time and the toll company staff did not allow him to cross the plaza without paying the charges.

Manjunath, along with his father Narayana Swamy, started arguing with the employees, who then allegedly dragged him inside a toll booth and threatened him with a knife.

Manjunath slapped one of the employees, who then attacked him with wooden logs, police said.

Manjunath, who was severely injured, was taken to a private hospital. The assault was recorded on CCTV cameras, police said.

Locals, who learnt about the incident, headed to the toll plaza.

Fearing a backlash, all employees of the toll company left the place before the villagers arrived. The angry villagers went into the office and pelted stones and set fire to one toll booth.

They also blocked traffic on the road and staged a protest.

Bengaluru Rural Superintendent of Police  B Ramesh rushed to the spot with additional forces of over 200 policemen and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters.

“The toll plaza is maintained by a company called Lanco. We have obtained the CCTV footage and are verifying it to take legal action against the accused,” said Ramesh. Bengaluru Rural police have registered a case under Section 307 of IPC against the toll plaza employees. Lanco authorities also filed a complaint against Manjunath.