Man Crushed to Death at Kherki Daula Toll After Stepping Out Over Fastag Error

A 45-year-old man from Alwar district, Rajasthan, was crushed to death and dragged for nearly 200 metres beneath a gravel-laden dumper truck at the Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Jaipur Motorway early on November 21, 2025, police reported. The victim, Mubin Khan, a resident of Ward No. 7 in Tijara, had departed his home around 4 a.m. to drive his friend, Puneet Kumar, to Indira Gandhi International Airport for a 9 a.m. flight to Bengaluru.

Khan, the family's primary breadwinner involved in real estate and managing several acres of ancestral land, left behind his wife, Sarjeena, and three children: daughter Muskaan, 20, and sons Arman, 16, and Asif, 17. The incident, captured on CCTV, has sparked outrage over toll plaza safety amid the widespread use of FASTag, India's electronic toll collection system designed to streamline payments but occasionally leading to delays from insufficient balances.

The tragedy unfolded rapidly during a routine toll transaction. Khan's Hyundai Aura was flagged at the automated barrier when the ₹95 FASTag deduction failed due to low balance, prompting staff to direct him to a manual lane. He pulled over, surrendered his mobile phone as collateral, and paid ₹118 via UPI while recharging his FASTag with ₹100—though the update hadn't processed yet. As Khan stepped out to return to his vehicle, a Rajasthan-registered truck entered the adjacent lane, cleared its own toll, and accelerated sharply once the boom barrier lifted, striking him without apparent notice from the driver. Trapped under the rear wheels, Khan was dragged along the asphalt, leaving a gruesome trail of blood and dismembered remains that alerted toll workers only after the truck fled the scene. Kumar, waiting in the car mere feet away, grew concerned by the unanswered calls and discovered the horror upon investigating, immediately notifying Khan's family in Tijara.

Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Turan described the sequence as a possible oversight or deliberate evasion by the truck driver, who remains at large despite the vehicle's registration being identified from plaza footage handed over to investigators. An FIR was registered at Kherki Daula police station on the complaint of Khan's brother, Ramzan Khan, invoking Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Authorities anticipate an arrest soon, with the probe focusing on the driver's awareness and potential hit-and-run intent. The toll operator confirmed the truck's hasty departure, emphasising that such plazas handle thousands of vehicles daily under high-pressure conditions, where FASTag glitches—despite covering over 90% of transactions nationwide—can force pedestrians into vulnerable positions without adequate barriers or signage.

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Khan's family, reeling from the loss, arrived in Gurugram shortly after the 6:30 a.m. alert but was barred by police from viewing the mutilated body post-autopsy, a decision relatives described as merciful yet heartbreaking. "We didn't get to see him one last time," said Dilshad Khan, a family member, noting Sarjeena's repeated fainting spells and the children's disbelief. The close friends' bond, forged over years, amplified the devastation, with Kumar's flight departing amid the chaos.

This fatal mishap underscores persistent safety lapses at India's toll infrastructure, where pedestrian zones intersect heavy traffic, prompting calls for enhanced protocols like dedicated walkways and real-time FASTag alerts. As the investigation proceeds, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the human cost behind routine commutes, urging stricter enforcement to prevent such preventable tragedies.

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