By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 25: Meghalaya Police has busted a thriving fuel theft and adulteration racket on national Highway 6.
According to Deputy Inspector-General of Police (ER), DNR Marak, a special police team conducted raids at seven locations and apprehended 14 people, including a juvenile, after receiving information from a source about widespread fuel theft from oil tankers and subsequent fuel adulterations in various locations along NH-6. Police were able to nab 14 people since others had fled.
Numerous items used in the storage of oil siphoned from tankers en route to designated destinations were seized.
In addition to eight vehicles, materials used to adulterate oil products were discovered and confiscated in these locations. These materials included 325 empty barrels and multiple barrels containing suspected gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.
The modus operandi in this case is that oil tankers from Assam take a brief detour to enter these illegal centres along NH-6 on their way to various locations in Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura.
As they arrive at these sites, they siphon off roughly 100 liters of fuel from each tanker and mix adulterated stuff as replacement for the fuel they have siphoned off before continuing on to their assigned destinations.
The entire process takes ten to fifteen minutes. These highway locations are typically improvised shacks with large gates covered in CGI sheets to ensure that visibility is obstructed and with an entry and exit gate for a speedy operation.
It was discovered that a specific centre running this scam had all the tools needed for fuel theft and distribution.
Massive amounts of fuel that have been pilfered are then accumulated over time and sold at a discount. They are also mixed with adulterants and sold to unwary end users, who suffer financial and material harm to their vehicles and equipment in addition to suffering significant losses for the real owners/companies.
Following up on the lead, a suspected factory in the Byrnihat EPIP was raided. It is thought that this factory is aiding this racket. Three cases have been filed at the Crime Branch Police Station in Shillong, and an investigation is under way to determine whether these incidents are related to an organised crime syndicate.