Agra transporter found dead hrs after GST interception; kin allege foul play

AGRA: A 51-year-old transporter was found dead in mysterious circumstances on a road in Agra early Saturday, hours after his truck was intercepted by a GST team. While the family has alleged foul play, police said prima facie it appears to be a road accident.The victim’s nephew, Arshad, told TOI that Azhar Ali had left home around 11 pm on Friday to oversee a consignment to Jaipur. “The truck was stopped by a GST team near Fatehpur Sikri and seized despite valid documents,” he said.Ali informed his family around 2 am about the interception and said he was heading to the GST office. A few hours later, he was found lying injured on a road under Shahganj police station limits after a passerby alerted police via Dial-112. He was taken to SN Medical College, where doctors declared him dead.Lohamandi ACP Gaurav Singh said preliminary examination of CCTV footage suggests Ali was hit by a car. “The footage shows a vehicle striking him. Efforts are on to identify the vehicle and the driver,” he said.The family has alleged a conspiracy involving two women GST officials, claiming there had been an ongoing dispute between Ali and one of them.His son Abdul said the dispute dates back to Nov 2025, when a GST team seized one of their trucks and allegedly imposed a penalty of Rs 4.5 lakh despite valid documents, issuing a receipt of Rs 3.06 lakh. He claimed discrepancies in the assessment and said his father had approached departmental authorities and the Lokayukta, but was “being pressured to withdraw the complaint”.In a statement, Agra Police said inquest proceedings have been completed and the body sent for postmortem examination, adding that all allegations are being probed. At the time of filing this report, Abdul was in the process of filing a formal complaint.