Fuel station manager in the dock for unauthorized sale of several thousand litres of diesel
TURA: The manager of Rachel petrol station at Bokmagre, Tura, has been taken in for questioning by police after they intercepted a consignment of five thousand litres of diesel that was being ‘illegally’ shipped for sale to a construction company in Ampati area without the permission of the authorities.
West Garo Hills Police intercepted a consignment of the diesel while it was passing through Garobadha town on Sunday evening.
The fuel station from where the diesel consignment was being exported had been the target of unidentified militants in the middle of last year when two motorcycle borne youth came up and shot dead a pump attendant on a rainy morning.
Since the killing the fuel station owners in Tura have stopped selling fuel after 4pm citing security reasons even as the move has led to immense hardship for the public particularly those who have to transport the sick and the elderly to hospitals in the middle of the night.
“The fuel station has been selling five to six thousand litres of diesel regularly to the company for the last three months without any permission. This is illegal because the public of Tura are facing regular fuel shortages caused by this artificial shortage,” informed district police chief Mukesh Kr Singh to The Shillong Times.
He said that police caught the manager of the station as he tried to flee from Tura for Guwahati after the consignment was intercepted.
The authorities are further cracking the whip on what it claims are benami transactions being undertaken by the owner of the fuel station.
The police chief informed that they would be enquiring into alleged benami transactions since although the owner is from Tura the business is reportedly run by someone else from Guwahati.
Following the detention of the station manager by police for questioning, rumour mongers worked overtime to spread false news that Garo Hills, particularly Tura, was going to face another spell of fuel shortage over a strike by fuel suppliers.
The rumours appeared to have had its impact for most part of the afternoon as hundreds of vehicles queued up at various fuel stations for panic buying.