As many as 14 brokers in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) here were arrested on Tuesday after a sudden raid by local police.
A team, under the direction of Rourkela SP Sarthak Sarangi, entered into the RTO and locked the main gate of the office. The locals and others who had come to the office on their personal work were allowed to go out whereas those who could not provide proper reason of their presence in the office, were detained.
Sources said the police detained as many as 14 persons and on subsequent interrogation came to know that they have been working as the brokers in RTO Rourkela. They were forwarded to court later in the evening, on charge of illegally engaging them as brokers and duping people.
The police also seized two offices, existing outside the RTO office working as brokers’ firm.
According to sources, the Rourkela police confirmed that they had received a number of grievances from various quarters regarding practice of brokering, leading to exploitation of the locals. "We had received several complaints from different quarters that brokers have been exploiting public, with the plea of getting their works done easily. Taking the public complaints seriously, we conducted a sudden raid in the RTO,” said Rourkela SP Sarangi.
