Pathlaiya, March 28:

Former minister Shyam Sundar Gupta today verbally abused police after the

latter seized a vehicle belonging to the Salt Trading Corporation that was being used by Gupta.

The police temporarily seized the vehicle in which Gupta was heading from Birgunj to Rajbiraj.

According to police inspector at Nijgadh Prem Joshi, the Pajero with registration number Ba 4 Cha 2864 belonged to Salt Trading Corporation and was seized at the direction of Home Ministry as Gupta had refused to return the vehicles to the government even after he was relieved from office.

Following the seizure of his vehicle, the former minister along with his party activists staged a sit-in on the Nijgadh section of the East-West Highway for almost half-an-hour.

Eyewitnesses said Gupta verbally abused the police for not providing another vehicle for him, even after obstructing the vehicular movement on the highway.

Gupta questioned why the Home Ministry had only targeted him while other former ministers were freely using government vehicles.

He said it was the conspiracy of the Home Ministry to tarnish his image.

The verbal war that continued for almost one-and-a-half-hour ended after the police handed over the vehicle to Gupta on condition that he wwould return it to the government, the Bara police said.