Udaypur, January 27:

A few youths have reportedly been fleecing the drivers of vehicles that use the recently-launched ferry service to cross the Saptakoshi to and from Barahkshetra of Sunsari and Mainamaini of Udaypur.

Drivers of the vehicles using the ferry complained that youths on both sides of the river had been forcefully collecting money from them.

“The youths bar the drivers who refuse to pay money from taking their vehicles across even if its their turn,” Rustam Chaudhari, a driver said. He said that a Kathmandu-bound truck had been stranded for over a week just because the driver did not give money to the youths.”The youths, who often are under the influence of alcohol, extort anything between Rs 200 and

Rs 1,000 from each vehicle,” transport entrepreneurs said. They complained that the police hadn’t taken any action against the youths despite the fact that they had filed complaints against the youths.

Another driver Bhim Tamang said the police keep mum over the issue as the youths bribe them. Some 100 personnel of the Armed Police Force and civil police have been deployed in Barahakshetra and Mainamaini areas.

“The transport entrepreneurs are also apprehensive about the risks of using the ferry to cross the river as the operators lacked expertise,” Sushil Sedhain, a local said.The government had launched the ferry service in the second week of this month after floods in the river swept a portion of east-west highway in August last year.