PANAJI, July 24 -- A local court in Mapusa on Thursday acquitted Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane and eight others in a 2013 case in which they were accused of vandalising a toll booth at Dhargal on Goa-Maharashtra highway and assaulting attendants over paying the toll. Rane, who had sought exemption from paying the toll, by virtue of being the son of then Maharashtra Congress leader Narayan Rane, allegedly vandalised the booth after he was denied the exemption. "I wish to sincerely thank the honourable court for acquitting all of us and giving us justice. Our team of lawyers did a good job placing the facts before the court and we have, as expected, received justice," Rane said outside the court in Mapusa following the verdict. He however, refused to recount the incident and said that it would not be proper to relive the incident now that the court has offered its verdict after having heard both sides of the argument. Rane's lawyers said that the court acquitted him on grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the case. Rane, along with eight others, was arrested in the case and later granted bail. The convoy was heading from Maharashtra to Goa for a private function when the scuffle took place. The prosecution had argued that Rane along with his associates vandalised the toll booth and assaulted the attendants. The Goa government, during the tenure of then Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar had imposed an 'entry fee' on all non- Goa-registered vehicles - private and commercial - entering the state. The fee was in place between 2013 and 2017 when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out across the country. However, following an uproar, the Goa government granted an exemption to vehicles registered in the neighbouring districts of Maharashtra and Karnataka....